NATURE
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1869 employment, sea voyages, residence in a different climate
SCIENCE AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH
A MONG the wide range of subjects included in the
•^*- programme of NATURE, one of the most important
tp mankind in general is certainly "the public health."
We propose in the following article to jay before our
readers an account of the way in which the attention of
different nations, at various times, has been directed to
this matter, until at last it is beginning to be recognised as
a necessary study for all.
It would seem at first sight hardly necessary to spend
words on defining the aims of a science, of which the
name " Health " is so expressive, but the various writers
on the subject have not thought so, and the old formula,
" the art 0/preserving the health," has been often changed.
Londe,, apparently from a dietetic point of view, says,
" Hygiene is the science which has for its object the
direction of the organs in the exercise of their functions,"
a definition which strangely limits the subject, and even
excludes the most important and interesting part of it.
Oesterien, desirous of bringing into view the two great
divisions of hygiene, calls it " that part of our knowledge
which has to do with the preservation and furthering of
the health of individuals on the one hand, and of the
community at large on the other."
Michel LeVy says that it is "the clinical study of
healthy man," by which definition he wishes to individualise
the more general one ; but even here we do not find what
we want: indeed we prefer the original definition to all
these alterations of it. Dr. Parkes thinks so too, for he
says, " Hygiene is the art of preserving health, that is, of
obtaining the most perfect action of body and mind during
•as long a period as is consistent with the laws of life ; in
other words, it aims at rendering growth more perfect,
decay less rapid, life more vigorous, death more remote."
And now we come to the extension which Bouchardat
has given to the ordinary definition, " Hygiene is the art
-of preserving the health." But how can we preserve
health ? Plainly by doing our best to keep away disease.
And how can we do this? By checking the causes of
disease. To this end we .must know these causes,—and
here we have the grand object of hygiene ; it is the;scjence
which studies the causes of disease, and points out the
means of avoiding them.
The knowledge of causes is the great aim of all science
properly so called, and no study ought to be honoured
With that name which has not this end in view.
"Prevention is better than cure " is an old proverb,and,
what is more, a very true one, and it is prevention that
the hygienist sttidies-^prevention of disease of whatsoever
kind by the removal of its causes. The means by which
diseases are prevented are often, those which answer best
for their cure; and here we perceive the link which joins
hygiene with medicine, and which constitutes what we
may call the therapeutical side of our science.
Thus we see that hygiene takes into consideration,
incidentally as it were, and in connection with medicine,
the treatment of many forms of disease by methods other
than the employment of pharmaceutical preparations—
these methods are what Fonssagrives calls " the Hygienic
Modificators," and are .such ,as exercise, baths, change of
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
^Vz
and above all regimen.
As the methods for the preservation of health are of the
first importance to all human beings, we may expect to
find provisions to this end among the writings of the
ancients, especially in the codes of the lawgivers: and such
is the case; take for example the writings of Moses,—
they are replete with most excellent hygienic fegulatiotis,
which his followers were obliged to observe under pain of
severe penalties.
Look at the institution of circumcision, the provisions
for the separation of the lepers from the healthy people,
the command not to eat swine's flesh, the prohibition
of the marriage of near relations. Besides these and
many other important generalities, we find the great
Hebrew legislator descending to the inmost details of
family life—giving a regimen admirable in its adaptation
to the climate of the countries for which it was intended \
directing the burial of excrementa and refuse matter of
all sorts in the earth ; fixing the laws of marriage, of
concubinage, of servitude, and of all social relations.
It is to the strict observation of these sanitary regula-
tions that one of the best-known writers on hygiene qf
the present day, M. Michel LeVy, does not hesitate to
ascribe the singular immunity of the Jewish race in the
midst of fearfully fatal epidemics ; which immunity was
so marked in the middle ages, that it brought upon them
"accusations the most absurd, persecutions the most
atrocious."
We turn now for a moment to China, and find a peo.ple
in many respects in a very high state of civilisation, a
people who had used the mariners compass ages before
it was known in Europe ; but a people who, from want of
communication with other nations, have made no advance
at all, perhaps, for thousands of years, who have gone on in-
creasing in numbers at such a rate that they now form one»
third of the population of the whole world, so that thpir
country is crowded to an extent hardly conceivable. Surely
we can learn something from them which will be of service
to us in the management of pur overgrown towns ! Yes ;
in one thing at least they are our masters—they waste
nothing ; what they take from the earth they give hack
directly to the earth ; every atom of their sewage matter
is employed as manure ; and how otherwise would it have
been possible for so immense a population, without anv
external resources, to live on such a comparatively limited
portion of the earth's surface, and to keep it fertile for so
many centuries?
One of the best instances of the power of cultivation
in improving the condition of a country is to be found in
Lower Egypt, formerly the centre of civilisation of the
world, now in a most abject condition: the inundations
of the Nile, while the country was peopled with intelligent
races, were the great source of its fertility, but are now
the cause of the insalubrious marshes that generate the
Plague, and make that country one of the most unhpalfhy
spots on the face of the globe.
To come nearer to our own country, let us see what
were the hygienic conditions of ancient Greece.and Rome.
Had the practical application of the principles of public
health anything to do with the high state of civilisation to
which those countries rose—a state which has, in some re-
spects at any rate, never since been equalled ? Had it
I.S6 NATURE
anything to do with the success which attended the Roman
armies, and led to the formation of that enormous Roman
empire? Let the facts speak for themselves. What strikes
one more in reading the classical authors of those coun-
tries than the continual mention of gymnasia and of
baths ? We find that a certain portion of time was set
apart daily for bodily exercise, and thus a full develop-
ment of the body was produced, and the greatest resistance
given to those two great enemies of mankind, disease and
death. It is true that all this training was part of a grand
military system, that the youths were thus encouraged to
compete for the prizes in the Olympic games and in the
Roman gymnasia that they might become good soldiers ;
but did this prevent the cultivation of mental acquire-
ments ? Again let the facts give the decision. Do you
wish to see fine buildings, buildings so well constructed
that they have lasted comparatively untouched by decay
for centuries ? Do you wish to study beautiful sculptures,
statues anatomically perfect to the minutest details, and
of unsurpassed artistic elegance ? You go to Athens!
You go to Rome ! Do not fancy that we contend for
bodily exercise as against mental studies : we merely
maintain that a sufficient daily corporal exercise is ab-
solutely necessary for the proper performance of the
functions, both of mind and body.
But we have not yet done with Rome. We have men-
tioned the baths of that city; but how were they supplied
with water ? Ah! here we have need to hide our faces
for shame. Surely we, with all the immense advantages
of scientific engineering, manage to supply our cities with
water as well as the people of two thousand years ago ;
at any rate, with all our steam engines and manufactories,
we require at least as much as they did. When, we turn
to the pages of Frontinus, what do we find ? That at the
time at which he wrote, about A.D. 92, there were actually
nine large aqueducts by which water was brought into
Rome, beside some smaller channels; these aqueducts
were in some cases entirely covered over throughout their
whole length, and were driven underground or supported
by high arches, as occasion required. Several of them, as
the Anio Vetus, the Claudian, and the Anio Novus, were
from 42 to 49 miles in length, while the total length of
the Marcian was actually 54 miles. The water was
brought by the two Anios from the river Anio, by the
others from various springs and lakes around Rome ; the
two newest ones, the Claudian and the Anio Novus, were
made because "seven aqueducts seemed scarcely sufficient
for private purposes and public amusements."
The supply appears to have been equivalent to more
than 332 millions of gallons per day, or (since the popula-
tion was certainly not more than a million) at least 332
gallons per head per day—say, six times the amount that
we have now in London.
But beside the aqueducts, there was a capital system of
sewers at Rome, consisting of the " Cloaca Maxima " and
a series of smaller channels flowing into it. The above
remarks give an idea of the admirable manner in which
the means for the conservation of the public health were
made a subject of State legislation in ancient Rome, and
of the determined way in which all obstacles were van-
quished, in order that the city might be made as healthy
as possible.
Not only have we the example of the ancients in these
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
[Bee. 9, 1869
matters, but we have hygiene reduced to a system by
Hippocrates, and associated, as it should always be, with
medicine. In reading his Aphorisms, one is struck by the
excellent dietetic regulations which he gives, for the ob-
servance of gymnasts, and for the guidance of physicians
in treating acute and chronic diseases. His third section,
which treats of the influence of the seasons of the year,
and of the various ages of man in the production of
diseases, is also very remarkable.
The very names of the works of Hippocrates show how
great a hygienist he was. " About Food," " About the
Use of Liquids," "About the Diet of Healthy People," and
especially his treatises on " Air, Water, and Localities,"
and on "Epidemics," are works which well entitle
their author to be considered the father of experimental
hygiene.
After Hippocrates comes Celsus, during the 1st century
of our era, who devotes the first chapter of his first book
",De Re Medica" to the exposition of rules concerning
diet, and recommends the avoidance of too great regu-
larity by healthy persons.
But we must not pass over the works of Galen, which
were so numerous as to form a complete treatise of
medicine, and which exercised so enormous an influence
over the medical practice of the whole world during many
centuries. Galen flourished during the latter part of the
2nd century after Christ, and was for some time physician
to the gymnasia at Rome. He revived the doctrines of
Hippocrates, especially the celebrated one of the four
humours (blood, bile, phlegm, and atrabile), and con-
sidered that the different temperaments were produced by
mixtures in various proportions of these humours with the
four elements—earth, air, fire, and water, and with the
four physical qualities—heat, cold, moisture, and dryness.
The Sicilian School sprang up in the n t h century, and
was the offspring of the ancient Greek and Arabian
medical schools. Its practice is handed down to us in a
quaint Latin poem, in which a great deal of truth is mixed
up with a great deal of trash, and in which we find bad
therapeutics based upon faulty pathology. It is from this
school that the doctrines of Hippocrates and Galen,
together with the fancies of later times, were spread
abroad over Europe. Thus we find that the experimental
methods of the fathers of medicine were confused with a
host of traditions derived from the Arabian alchemists ;
so that the rational methods of treatment, adopted by
Hippocrates and his more immediate successors, were
neglected ; and diseases were treated instead by a host
of supposed infallible remedies, of which the action was
not at all investigated. And what do we find as the
result of this change of practice? That epidemics raged
with the most fearful intensity all over Europe, epi-
demics which were only known accidentally before, and
which, finding favourable conditions for their spread
in the utter neglect of hygienic observances, came from
their natural seats in hot eastern countries, and com-
mitted unheard-of ravages in Europe. Look at the
Plague, that fearful epidemic of the eastern part of the
Mediterranean ! It is true that we have accounts of
terrible visitations of it in Greece, and particularly of one
which depopulated Athens in the second year of the
Peloponnesian war, when the disease was introduced into
that city (then fearfully overcrowded) by a ship from
Dec. 9, 1869] NATURE
Egypt, that entered the Piraeus : at various times also,
and particularly in the year of the city 389 (before the
building of the aqueducts), the Roman capital was visited
with the same calamity: but this is nothing to the fearful
visitations with which all Europe was afflicted during the
14th, 15th, i6th, and 17th centuries.
The last appearance of the Plague in Europe was in
1719, when it was introduced into Marseilles by a ship
that had been refused admittance into the port of Cagliari
in Sardinia. Even then its course might probably have
been stopped, had its malignant nature been recognised
soon enough; but this was not the case, and more than
90,000 persons were killed by it. Here we have a clear
proof of the value of preventive measures. Sardinia
was saved because the king refused the admission of the
ship into the port of Cagliari; Marseilles was ravaged
because a like precaution was not taken.
In England we are accustomed to manage affairs in
a less official manner than they are managed abroad,
and the result is that improvements, although more diffi-
cult of introduction, are often more surely brought about
with us than with our neighbours. It is certainly not
because we are less hygienic in our habits than other
nations, that we have so few books on hygiene, or
that our Medical Schools have not looked upon it as a
sister science with Medicine; but because it seemed
to take no special line, and because it seemed to be so
much everybody's business : now, however, since the
formation of the General Board of Health and the
Registrar-General's office, such a mass of information
with regard to the statistics and to the causes of disease
has been obtained, that it seems necessary to make a
special study of this science, and no longer to allow it to
be taught accidentally as an appendage to Pathology or
Therapeutics. W. H. CoRFIELD
SCIENCE EDUCATION IN GERMANY
I.—THE GERMAN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
' T ' H E most striking point of difference between the
condition of science teaching in Germany and in
England lies in the great facilities and encouragements
which, in the former country, are given to the study of
science in its highest development. In primary education,
we are in England probably doing as much or more in the
way of encouraging the teaching of elementary science as
is bei&g done in Germany, or elsewhere. It is our
richly endowed Universities which have as yet failed to
play the important part in this essential feature of modern
education which, from their position and means, we have
a right to expect them to do, whilst other less wealthy
Colleges and educational establishments, quite as capable
of giving the highest scientific instruction, have to battle
with almost overwhelming difficulties. Government, on succeeded in stimulating intellectual activity, and foster-
the other hand, true to its supposed function of simply ing a spirit of original inquiry amongst the teachers, and
assisting those -who cannot help themselves, only gives thus creating a true profession of learned men. On the
pecuniary aid towards the science instruction of the work- other hand, it offers sufficient inducement to aspiring-
ing classes ; and, with a singular want of foresight, pro- students to devote themselves to special pursuits, and
vides tm Systematic means of training the teachers,* who raise their aims to something higher than mere "Brod-
are left 'to pick up their education as best they may,
* The few Queen's prizes and other exhibitions for instruction <in the Royal privat-docent and extraordinary professor, to the highest
School of Mnres cannot in any respect be considered as a system of science
education for teachers.
157
The university system of Germany is now so different
in character from that of England, that it is difficult to
believe that these institutions, of the same age and stand-
ing, were founded on the same type, and perhaps equally
so to explain how they came to be so essentially different,
The cause of this difference appears, however, to me to
lie less in the necessarily varying nature of national
character and requirements, than in the simple fact that
in Oxford and Cambridge the system of colleges founded
originally as benefactions to religious societies by private
donors, and still retaining a party and religious character,
has swamped (or nearly so) the -university ; and that the
college tuition interferes with, and is indeed often abso-
lutely opposed to, that of the proper educating body which
it was intended only to supplement. In Germany the
college system does not exist, and the university has
always remained supreme in its locality ; it knows of
no interference, religious or otherwise, in its own sphere ;
its system of education is regulated according to one
principle, and one spirit of emulation pervades the whole
staff of teachers.
It is singular to notice that the German universities,
which are all of them Government institutions, every
professor being a civil servant of the Crown, taking the
oaths and receiving salary and pension, do not suffer from
what we are apt to consider the deadening influence of
Government service. On the contrary, this system now
holds, and has always contained, the highest and best
intellectual life of the nation, replete with energy both as
regards teaching power and original research. This may
be explained by the fact that although the universities are
State institutions, yet they are practically free as regards
their internal government. Each Professor teaches as he
thinks best, and Ministerial interference with the regula-
tions of the Senate is of the rarest occurrence. In another
point of view, it is well to compare the Government
universities of what we Englishmen are even yet too apt
to consider as the despotic and illiberal German powers
with our free (!) universities. In Germany all, from
prince to peasant, who choose, can and do come to the
university, provided they bring certificates of having passed
the exit examination of their gymnasium, as a proof of due
qualification to benefit from the university instruction,
Thus, the small government of Baden supports two uni-
versities, to the benefits of which persons of all classes,
of all religious denominations, and natives of all countries
are permitted to enter, without limitation of number,
without religious test of any kind, and for the payment of
ridiculously low fees. Can we say that- our universities
are as free? or that we in England possess any other
institutions which fulfil for us the duties of these High
Schools for the German people ?
The university system of Germany has most certainly
studien," by opening out to them a path, often arduous
and rugged, by which a man of ability may rise, from
position of university eminence. This free infusion of

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

Dec. 9, 1869] NATURE
Egypt, that entered the Piraeus : at various times also,
and particularly in the year of the city 389 (before the
building of the aqueducts), the Roman capital was visited
with the same calamity: but this is nothing to the fearful
visitations with which all Europe was afflicted during the
14th, 15th, i6th, and 17th centuries.
The last appearance of the Plague in Europe was in
1719, when it was introduced into Marseilles by a ship
that had been refused admittance into the port of Cagliari
in Sardinia. Even then its course might probably have
been stopped, had its malignant nature been recognised
soon enough; but this was not the case, and more than
90,000 persons were killed by it. Here we have a clear
proof of the value of preventive measures. Sardinia
was saved because the king refused the admission of the
ship into the port of Cagliari; Marseilles was ravaged
because a like precaution was not taken.
In England we are accustomed to manage affairs in
a less official manner than they are managed abroad,
and the result is that improvements, although more diffi-
cult of introduction, are often more surely brought about
with us than with our neighbours. It is certainly not
because we are less hygienic in our habits than other
nations, that we have so few books on hygiene, or
that our Medical Schools have not looked upon it as a
sister science with Medicine; but because it seemed
to take no special line, and because it seemed to be so
much everybody's business : now, however, since the
formation of the General Board of Health and the
Registrar-General's office, such a mass of information
with regard to the statistics and to the causes of disease
has been obtained, that it seems necessary to make a
special study of this science, and no longer to allow it to
be taught accidentally as an appendage to Pathology or
Therapeutics. W. H. CoRFIELD
SCIENCE EDUCATION IN GERMANY
I.—THE GERMAN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
' T ' H E most striking point of difference between the
condition of science teaching in Germany and in
England lies in the great facilities and encouragements
which, in the former country, are given to the study of
science in its highest development. In primary education,
we are in England probably doing as much or more in the
way of encouraging the teaching of elementary science as
is bei&g done in Germany, or elsewhere. It is our
richly endowed Universities which have as yet failed to
play the important part in this essential feature of modern
education which, from their position and means, we have
a right to expect them to do, whilst other less wealthy
Colleges and educational establishments, quite as capable
of giving the highest scientific instruction, have to battle
with almost overwhelming difficulties. Government, on succeeded in stimulating intellectual activity, and foster-
the other hand, true to its supposed function of simply ing a spirit of original inquiry amongst the teachers, and
assisting those -who cannot help themselves, only gives thus creating a true profession of learned men. On the
pecuniary aid towards the science instruction of the work- other hand, it offers sufficient inducement to aspiring-
ing classes ; and, with a singular want of foresight, pro- students to devote themselves to special pursuits, and
vides tm Systematic means of training the teachers,* who raise their aims to something higher than mere "Brod-
are left 'to pick up their education as best they may,
* The few Queen's prizes and other exhibitions for instruction <in the Royal privat-docent and extraordinary professor, to the highest
School of Mnres cannot in any respect be considered as a system of science
education for teachers.
157
The university system of Germany is now so different
in character from that of England, that it is difficult to
believe that these institutions, of the same age and stand-
ing, were founded on the same type, and perhaps equally
so to explain how they came to be so essentially different,
The cause of this difference appears, however, to me to
lie less in the necessarily varying nature of national
character and requirements, than in the simple fact that
in Oxford and Cambridge the system of colleges founded
originally as benefactions to religious societies by private
donors, and still retaining a party and religious character,
has swamped (or nearly so) the -university ; and that the
college tuition interferes with, and is indeed often abso-
lutely opposed to, that of the proper educating body which
it was intended only to supplement. In Germany the
college system does not exist, and the university has
always remained supreme in its locality ; it knows of
no interference, religious or otherwise, in its own sphere ;
its system of education is regulated according to one
principle, and one spirit of emulation pervades the whole
staff of teachers.
It is singular to notice that the German universities,
which are all of them Government institutions, every
professor being a civil servant of the Crown, taking the
oaths and receiving salary and pension, do not suffer from
what we are apt to consider the deadening influence of
Government service. On the contrary, this system now
holds, and has always contained, the highest and best
intellectual life of the nation, replete with energy both as
regards teaching power and original research. This may
be explained by the fact that although the universities are
State institutions, yet they are practically free as regards
their internal government. Each Professor teaches as he
thinks best, and Ministerial interference with the regula-
tions of the Senate is of the rarest occurrence. In another
point of view, it is well to compare the Government
universities of what we Englishmen are even yet too apt
to consider as the despotic and illiberal German powers
with our free (!) universities. In Germany all, from
prince to peasant, who choose, can and do come to the
university, provided they bring certificates of having passed
the exit examination of their gymnasium, as a proof of due
qualification to benefit from the university instruction,
Thus, the small government of Baden supports two uni-
versities, to the benefits of which persons of all classes,
of all religious denominations, and natives of all countries
are permitted to enter, without limitation of number,
without religious test of any kind, and for the payment of
ridiculously low fees. Can we say that- our universities
are as free? or that we in England possess any other
institutions which fulfil for us the duties of these High
Schools for the German people ?
The university system of Germany has most certainly
studien," by opening out to them a path, often arduous
and rugged, by which a man of ability may rise, from
position of university eminence. This free infusion of

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 i58 NATURE
new blood into the teaching staff is one great secret of
the vitality of the German system ; another, certainly, is
the well-known principle of " L e r n und Lehr-Freiheit."
The professor is, on the one hand, perfectly free to treat
his subject as he thinks b e s t ; and the student has a free
choice amongst the various teachers of the particular
department of study to which he may devote himself.
Can our system, with its far larger pecuniary means, with
its hundreds of scholarships and non-resident fellowships,
compare in these respects, as inducing men to devote
themselves to study, with the German universities ?
There is no doubt that the secondary school education
in England is inferior, in breadth and completeness, to the
strict gymnasial system of Germany. Hence our univer-
sities are obliged to act more as finishing schools, occupied
with raising the general level instead of carrying out the
more scientific, higher, and more original studies which
form the professional side of education, the "Fach-studien"
which constitute the essential elements of the German
system.
In even the smallest German university the four faculties
of Philosophy (or art studies), Law, Medicine, and Theology
exist in active operation. I n the first of these faculties,
all those students enter who desire to study either Philology
and the cognate subjects, Historical science, the Mathe-
matical sciences, or any of the various branches of
Physical science.
T h e Law students confine themselves to their own
Faculty where the theory of the profession is brought
before them in a scientific order before they begin to learn
the practice of the law.
In Medicine, the danger of a knowledge acquired
by practice alone, and the necessity of a scientific edu-
cation, are too patent to have escaped attention even in
E n g l a n d ; and hence the establishment of our numerous
medical schools, attached to large hospitals. In Ger-
many, such medical schools unconnected with other
faculties are u n k n o w n ; medicine forms an essential
feature of every university system; and even comparatively
small towns, as Heidelberg and Wurtzburg, have their
large and well-regulated hospitals, and are able to draw
to themselves such men as Helmholtz and Kolliker.
On the advantage of association of medical students
with those pursuing other studies it is needless to
enlarge.
In Theology there are frequently two faculties, one
based upon Catholic and the other upon Protestant prin-
ciples ; these are found to work satisfactorily, and in
Germany all who enter either Church must have at any
rate gone through a regular course of theological in-
struction.
Another grand point in which the German university
excels the English is the much larger proportion of
qualified teachers which we find in the former.
As an example of the enormous teaching power in
Germany, let us take the Philosophical Faculty in the
University of Berlin. Here four professors and five other
lecturers give twenty distinct courses each semestre (half
year) in the science of Chemistry alone, including several on
systematic chemistry, the history of chemistry, the chemical
foundations of geology, metallurgy, pharmacy, &c. Under
the head of Physics the following ten distinct courses were
given by seven Professors during the summer semestre of
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
[Dec. 9, 1869
1868, and, in addition, a physical laboratory is conducted
by Prof. Magnus :—
Hours Hours
weekly. weekly.
Experimental Physics . . 4 Physiological Optics. . . 4
Technology 5 Mechanical Theory of Heat I
Acoustics 4 Hydrography I
Capillary Theory. . . . 2 Physical Geography . . . 2
Theory of Light and of Optical Instruction in Methods of
Instruments . . . . 2 Physical and Geographical
Observations . . . . 3
In the Biological subjects, ten professors and lecturers
gave twenty-one courses, theoretical and practical. In
Classics and allied subjects, thirteen professors and eight
lecturers gave twenty-three courses ; and on other lin-
guistic subjects, eighteen professors and lecturers gave
forty courses. In Mathematics, six professors and lec-
turers gave thirteen courses. In what we should call
Mental and Moral Philosophy,including psedagogy, eleven
professors and lecturers gave nineteen courses. In Eco-
nomic and Agricultural sciences, seven professors and
lecturers gave twelve courses. In History and Geography,
nine professors and lecturers gave thirteen courses. In
Belles-lettres and the Fine Arts, seven professors gave ten
courses. It must be remembered that all the courses
enumerated above belong to the Faculty of Arts (Philo-
sophische Facultat), and are exclusive of the three other
faculties, in each of which the subjects are represented in
a similar proportion.
It is, of course, impossible for us in England to attempt
to set up a system on this scale ; but we cannot be too
fully aware of the miserably insufficient way in which
these studies are represented in our country; and we may
rest assured that the existence, in due proportions, of a
plurality of teachers is an indispensable pre-requisite for
both breadth and depth of study. Where only one
teacher is charged with one leading branch of study, it is
barely within his power to provide the systematic teaching
necessary for pass-men ; whereas if, as in German uni-
versities, several teachers lecture concurrently on sub-
divisions of a subject, the more advanced students have
the opportunity of studying more thoroughly some one
section of their science. T h e teachers are also induced,
by the opportunity of lecturing on special subjects, to
engage in profounder investigations ; and thus that other
aim of university institutions—the advancement of science
and the promotion of a learned class—is furthered. This
is a consideration—at least, however, so far as England is
concerned—for a remote future : it is sufficient to insist
on the necessity of this plurality of teachers in order to
ensure really effective teaching. T h e same subdivision of
each subject appears in all the German universities.
Thus in Gottingen, by no means one of the recently
founded universities, and not subject in any special de-
gree to those influences which have so remarkably fostered
the growth of the sciences of observation and experiment,
we find the following courses given in 1868 :—•
In Gottingen, Chemistry is (against the usage in Germany)
attached to. the Medical Faculty; there are, however, three
divisions—the general, the physiological, and the agricultural.
In the first, we find Professor Wohler, with four skilled assist-
ants ; two of these being also professors. In the physiological
division is another professor, with one assistant; and in the
agricultural division, is one professor and one assistant. There
are, further, four laboratory servants.
Professor Wohler delivers the principal course of lectures on
systematic chemistry. His assistants lecture on special branches.
Dec. 9, 1869] NATURE
The whole staff directs the laboratory; and over and above these
are the two professors of physiological and agricultural chemistry,
who conduct their own laboratories.
In Physics, Professor Weber and his assistants, Professors
Listing and Kohlrausch, conduct an excellent physical laboratory,
and lecture on the several branches of physics—systematic phy-
sics, optics, electricity, &c, light and heat, meteorology. Pro-
fessor Ulrich treats of hydrostatics and hydraulics.
In Natural History, Professor Keferstein lectures on compara-
tive anatomy, and performs zootomical demonstrations in the
Zoological Museum during eight hours weekly to the students;
for four hours weekly the Museum is open to the public, when
the same Professor is present to conduct demonstrations. Two
professors lecture on Botany (each six hours weekly), and com-
bine with their lectures excursions and demonstrations in the
Botanical Garden ; there is also a third assistant professor. Pro-
fessors Sartorius Von Waltershausen and Von Seebach lecture
each four or five hours weekly on Mineralogy and Geology, and
conduct practical demonstrations in the Museums.
In Heidelberg, as in Berlin and Gottingen, and in
some respects even in a more perfect measure, large
provision is made for the study of physical science.
The Physical Laboratory, conducted by Professor Kirch-
hoff, is very successful. Once weekly Professor Kirchhoff
lectures, with experiments, on a given subject; in the
following week each student in the laboratory goes
through the experiments for himself, and in this consists
the essence of the course. Students can also pro-
secute independent research for several days in the
week.
The Chemical School of Heidelberg has always been a
celebrated one, and since the appointment of Bunsen to
the university its renown has greatly increased. In no
other European laboratory, with the single exception of
that of Liebig at Giessen, have so many promising scien-
tific chemists been trained, and this has been wholly due
to the untiring interest shown in each student by the
illustrious Professor, who, devoted heart and soul to his
science, imparts to his students a portion of that interest
in, and zeal for, original investigation, which are the real
marks of a scientific spirit. Many of the chemical students
at Heidelberg come, as with us, to study the science for
the sake of its subsequent applications to manufactures,
medicine, or pharmacy (for all the German druggists and
pharmaceutical chemists are wisely compelled to attend a
regular university course), but many, probably a large frac-
tion of the number, study the science for its own sake,
most of these students intending to qualify themselves
for the higher posts of scientific instruction in various
countries. Amongst the companions of those who studied
at Heidelberg with the writer were men who are now
making rising reputations in most of the German univer-
sities, or in the various institutions of France, Russia,
Portugal, Great Britain, and America.
The Physiological Laboratory, conducted by the cele-
brated philosopher Helmholtz, is a novel and important
feature in the Science Department in Heidelberg. A
handsome and spacious building has recently been erected
for the use of the Professors of Physics and Physiology.
This embraces lecture-rooms, laboratories, rooms for
apparatus and instruments, and for conducting special
scientific investigations, besides dwelling-houses for the
professors and their families.
In another article I propose to inquire more closely
into the cost of establishing and working the Science
Department of the German universities,
HENRY E. ROSCOE
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
i59
A POINT IN MUSCULAR PHYSICS
C O M E Physiologists abound in statements touching
the correlation of forces in living things, and are
very fond of repeating the old parallel between a muscle
and a steam-engine. W e have no desire to deny the
aptness of the illustration, but it is as well to bear in mind
that, in actual point of fact, the exact correlation of heat
and mechanical force has not, as far as muscle is con-
cerned, yet been made fully out. The point of failure
is this—suppose we have two muscles: let one muscle
when it contracts have to pull against a weight and so pro-
duce a decided mechanical effect; let the other muscle
have no such weight to pull against, and so in contracting
produce no mechanical effect (the trifling weight of the
muscle itself we may disregard). According to the
doctrine of the correlation of forces, the heat given out in
the first case ought to be less than that given out in the
second, by reason of the total force produced by the com-
bustion of the muscle going out partly as mechanical force
instead of wholly as heat. W e suppose of course that ex-
actly same amount of contraction takes place in both
cases, and indeed that the muscles are perfectly identical
in circumstances, except so far as their load is concerned.
Heidenhain some few years ago, however, found out that
there was, strange to say, more heat given out in the first
case. H e also discovered the reason of it, which is that
when a muscle is put on the stretch, as, for instance, when
a muscle has in contracting to pull against a weight, all
the chemical changes in the muscle are augmented, and
that roughly in proportion to the amount of strain.
This observation by Heidenhain seems to us one of
very far-reaching and often-recurring importance, though
apparently it has hardly as yet gained the attention it
deserves. At all events it put a stop for a while to any
satisfactory settlement of the question we are considering.
Quite recently, however, Fick has devised an experiment
which seemed to him to avoid the difficulty that had
discomfited Heidenhain. T h e gist of it is simply this. H e
has two muscles in every way treated alike except in the
following point. One muscle he allows to pull a weight
up by the force of its contraction, and then lets the weight,
when the contraction has passed over, pull the muscle
down again. T h e other muscle pulls up the same weight
in the same way, but at the moment that the contraction
is at its maximum the weight is slipped off. T h e muscle
then by virtue of its elasticity returns to the length natural
to it when unloaded ; directly it has reached this point
the weight is slipped on again, and the muscle is again
ready for a contraction.
It is obvious that in the first case the muscle does no
actual work at a l l ; after the contraction the weight
undoes what the contraction did. In the second case, on
the other hand, the weight is lifted up to a certain point
and left there ; real work is done.
Such being the case, the temperature of the first muscle
ought to rise higher than the second; and when each
muscle has been made to contract a good many times
this rise ought to be appreciable. Fick finds in fact
that it is so. And so we seem here to have what we
desired; for both muscles during contraction are subject
to the same strain; and hence Heidenhain's objection is
obviated,
Dec. 9, 1869] NATURE
The whole staff directs the laboratory; and over and above these
are the two professors of physiological and agricultural chemistry,
who conduct their own laboratories.
In Physics, Professor Weber and his assistants, Professors
Listing and Kohlrausch, conduct an excellent physical laboratory,
and lecture on the several branches of physics—systematic phy-
sics, optics, electricity, &c, light and heat, meteorology. Pro-
fessor Ulrich treats of hydrostatics and hydraulics.
In Natural History, Professor Keferstein lectures on compara-
tive anatomy, and performs zootomical demonstrations in the
Zoological Museum during eight hours weekly to the students;
for four hours weekly the Museum is open to the public, when
the same Professor is present to conduct demonstrations. Two
professors lecture on Botany (each six hours weekly), and com-
bine with their lectures excursions and demonstrations in the
Botanical Garden ; there is also a third assistant professor. Pro-
fessors Sartorius Von Waltershausen and Von Seebach lecture
each four or five hours weekly on Mineralogy and Geology, and
conduct practical demonstrations in the Museums.
In Heidelberg, as in Berlin and Gottingen, and in
some respects even in a more perfect measure, large
provision is made for the study of physical science.
The Physical Laboratory, conducted by Professor Kirch-
hoff, is very successful. Once weekly Professor Kirchhoff
lectures, with experiments, on a given subject; in the
following week each student in the laboratory goes
through the experiments for himself, and in this consists
the essence of the course. Students can also pro-
secute independent research for several days in the
week.
The Chemical School of Heidelberg has always been a
celebrated one, and since the appointment of Bunsen to
the university its renown has greatly increased. In no
other European laboratory, with the single exception of
that of Liebig at Giessen, have so many promising scien-
tific chemists been trained, and this has been wholly due
to the untiring interest shown in each student by the
illustrious Professor, who, devoted heart and soul to his
science, imparts to his students a portion of that interest
in, and zeal for, original investigation, which are the real
marks of a scientific spirit. Many of the chemical students
at Heidelberg come, as with us, to study the science for
the sake of its subsequent applications to manufactures,
medicine, or pharmacy (for all the German druggists and
pharmaceutical chemists are wisely compelled to attend a
regular university course), but many, probably a large frac-
tion of the number, study the science for its own sake,
most of these students intending to qualify themselves
for the higher posts of scientific instruction in various
countries. Amongst the companions of those who studied
at Heidelberg with the writer were men who are now
making rising reputations in most of the German univer-
sities, or in the various institutions of France, Russia,
Portugal, Great Britain, and America.
The Physiological Laboratory, conducted by the cele-
brated philosopher Helmholtz, is a novel and important
feature in the Science Department in Heidelberg. A
handsome and spacious building has recently been erected
for the use of the Professors of Physics and Physiology.
This embraces lecture-rooms, laboratories, rooms for
apparatus and instruments, and for conducting special
scientific investigations, besides dwelling-houses for the
professors and their families.
In another article I propose to inquire more closely
into the cost of establishing and working the Science
Department of the German universities,
HENRY E. ROSCOE
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
i59
A POINT IN MUSCULAR PHYSICS
C O M E Physiologists abound in statements touching
the correlation of forces in living things, and are
very fond of repeating the old parallel between a muscle
and a steam-engine. W e have no desire to deny the
aptness of the illustration, but it is as well to bear in mind
that, in actual point of fact, the exact correlation of heat
and mechanical force has not, as far as muscle is con-
cerned, yet been made fully out. The point of failure
is this—suppose we have two muscles: let one muscle
when it contracts have to pull against a weight and so pro-
duce a decided mechanical effect; let the other muscle
have no such weight to pull against, and so in contracting
produce no mechanical effect (the trifling weight of the
muscle itself we may disregard). According to the
doctrine of the correlation of forces, the heat given out in
the first case ought to be less than that given out in the
second, by reason of the total force produced by the com-
bustion of the muscle going out partly as mechanical force
instead of wholly as heat. W e suppose of course that ex-
actly same amount of contraction takes place in both
cases, and indeed that the muscles are perfectly identical
in circumstances, except so far as their load is concerned.
Heidenhain some few years ago, however, found out that
there was, strange to say, more heat given out in the first
case. H e also discovered the reason of it, which is that
when a muscle is put on the stretch, as, for instance, when
a muscle has in contracting to pull against a weight, all
the chemical changes in the muscle are augmented, and
that roughly in proportion to the amount of strain.
This observation by Heidenhain seems to us one of
very far-reaching and often-recurring importance, though
apparently it has hardly as yet gained the attention it
deserves. At all events it put a stop for a while to any
satisfactory settlement of the question we are considering.
Quite recently, however, Fick has devised an experiment
which seemed to him to avoid the difficulty that had
discomfited Heidenhain. T h e gist of it is simply this. H e
has two muscles in every way treated alike except in the
following point. One muscle he allows to pull a weight
up by the force of its contraction, and then lets the weight,
when the contraction has passed over, pull the muscle
down again. T h e other muscle pulls up the same weight
in the same way, but at the moment that the contraction
is at its maximum the weight is slipped off. T h e muscle
then by virtue of its elasticity returns to the length natural
to it when unloaded ; directly it has reached this point
the weight is slipped on again, and the muscle is again
ready for a contraction.
It is obvious that in the first case the muscle does no
actual work at a l l ; after the contraction the weight
undoes what the contraction did. In the second case, on
the other hand, the weight is lifted up to a certain point
and left there ; real work is done.
Such being the case, the temperature of the first muscle
ought to rise higher than the second; and when each
muscle has been made to contract a good many times
this rise ought to be appreciable. Fick finds in fact
that it is so. And so we seem here to have what we
desired; for both muscles during contraction are subject
to the same strain; and hence Heidenhain's objection is
obviated,
 i6o NATURE [Dec. 9, 1869
That cautious inquirer is not, however, yet satisfied. He more than sixty millions are there under the operation
asks " if during contraction an increase of strain produces of railways as an institution.
an increase in the total chemical processes (metamorphosis) The civilising influence of railways is, in England,
of the muscle, are we to think that the effect of the accordingly confined to one groove — one main Anglo-
strain ceases to be felt immediately the contraction is Saxon line—and the effect on the English people cannot
finished, and is not carried on into the period of re- but remain elementary : on the Continent, however, their
laxation ? civilising power derives its material from several distinct
And moreover, putting the matter to an experimental and essentially different sources, viz., the Teutonic and Gallic
inquiry, he finds, as a matter of fact, that when two races, and some others of minor consequence, the material
muscles are treated as in Fick's experiment, one strained of which, interwoven and allied by the affinity of thought,
at all times, and the other strained only during contraction, forms a compound of a different nature and character,
the amount of chemical change taking place in the first, differing as much as compounds differ from their elements.
as evidenced by the generation of acid, is distinctly larger That these causes have been in operation in the manner
than in the second. So there the question remains for indicated, we may easily trace in the relative progress
the present. made within one generation in England and on
the Continent. When railways were in their infancy,
England was, in her institutions and industry, much
THE PROJECTED CHANNEL RAILWAYS ahead of any country. Railways have improved the
HTHE first question to be asked about a railway condition of every people, but has the improvement not
between England and France would be properly one been very much greater on the Continent? It may be
upon its importance, and on the value of such a railway urged, that there was more room for improvement in those
to the social and commercial interests of the two countries. countries: that may be so, but this would not affect the case,
Let us consider the present situation and the circum- for there was and is room enough for improvement at home.
stances which would affect, favourably or otherwise, a Within one generation railways have produced wonder-
Channel Railway. ful revolutions on the Continent. The despotic govern-
A sheet of water, impassable at all times to the bulk of ments of several great nations have given way to truly
a people, although a highway of their sailors, is a most liberal institutions; continental industry rivals already
effectual barrier between two countries. Free inter- that of England. And how was all that brought about ?
course is checked ; the exchange of ideas and thought The immediate causes of these changes may seem in-
limited to a small class of traders and travellers, not to numerable ; and yet, there is only one great cause at
mention the learned, who in all countries form but a the bottom of all this change, viz. enlightenment of the
minority of the people. peoplej and we claim a large share of this result for the
Two nations so situated are generally cold towards each institution of railways.
other, and in time materially differ in their mode of If, then, the combination of thought originating from
living, in their ideas, habits, and in their institutions. A different sources has so much advanced and civilised the
free intercourse need not necessarily obliterate the peculi- Continent, what would be the effect upon England if a
arities of different races; but it has always been an railway could suddenly bring the bulk of her people in
effective means of moderating prejudices. close contact with the continental nations ? A more com-
To attempt a description of the numerous and subtle plex, a higher compound would be formed, and what
ways by ['which the mind of populations may be taken the ultimate effect of this change might be the future alone
hold of—and even be guided—would be beyond our could tell; all that can be said with certainty at present
present object; but as a means of self-education is this, that enlightenment must follow in a potential form.
and consequent civilisation, there could not be a more Excursion trains would take the million to and from
powerful instrument than railways, because they offer the either country ; excursions to and from Paris would be
readiest, most convenient, and the cheapest means of made with the same convenience and comfort as now
communication between one individual and another. between Manchester, Liverpool, London, and other large
Half-a-century ago the bulk of a nation was enclosed towns ; in short, the social effect of the change would
within its own walls; only a small minority could afford be immense ; and how would it affect the commercial
to travel and to observe, to exchange and to induce thottght. interests ? Enough has already been said to show that a
That in which all schools must necessarily fail, or at least channel railway in good working condition would accom-
can succeed but indifferently—viz., the education of the plish wonders, and it maybe easily perceived that, though all
million—railways are accomplishing with extraordinary will be gainers by the change, England would gain the most.
rapidity; their civilising influence is constantly at work : This being so, then, the next point is to analyse the
they cover England more than any other country, and different projects which have been proposed for bringing
accordingly England derives all the benefit which that the result about. Among these, the Bridge scheme has
institution may confer on a people. Railways are also in naturally received considerable public attention. To the
a great measure covering France, Belgium, Germany, &c. • non-professional mind it appears a plausible proposition,
but there is an essential difference between the effect and enough support has been given to its promoters to
which they may produce in England and on the Conti- enable them to promise wonders.
nent. In England they interchange and mix the ideas We have no definite plan of the proposed bridge, but we
and habits principally of the Anglo-Saxon race, some have a Channel Bridge Company; we have not even a de-
twenty odd millions; on the Continent they cause to finite outline of the main engineering features, but we have
mingle several great nations of different race : certainly the assurance of the success of amodel which, in the opinion

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 i6o NATURE [Dec. 9, 1869
That cautious inquirer is not, however, yet satisfied. He more than sixty millions are there under the operation
asks " if during contraction an increase of strain produces of railways as an institution.
an increase in the total chemical processes (metamorphosis) The civilising influence of railways is, in England,
of the muscle, are we to think that the effect of the accordingly confined to one groove — one main Anglo-
strain ceases to be felt immediately the contraction is Saxon line—and the effect on the English people cannot
finished, and is not carried on into the period of re- but remain elementary : on the Continent, however, their
laxation ? civilising power derives its material from several distinct
And moreover, putting the matter to an experimental and essentially different sources, viz., the Teutonic and Gallic
inquiry, he finds, as a matter of fact, that when two races, and some others of minor consequence, the material
muscles are treated as in Fick's experiment, one strained of which, interwoven and allied by the affinity of thought,
at all times, and the other strained only during contraction, forms a compound of a different nature and character,
the amount of chemical change taking place in the first, differing as much as compounds differ from their elements.
as evidenced by the generation of acid, is distinctly larger That these causes have been in operation in the manner
than in the second. So there the question remains for indicated, we may easily trace in the relative progress
the present. made within one generation in England and on
the Continent. When railways were in their infancy,
England was, in her institutions and industry, much
THE PROJECTED CHANNEL RAILWAYS ahead of any country. Railways have improved the
HTHE first question to be asked about a railway condition of every people, but has the improvement not
between England and France would be properly one been very much greater on the Continent? It may be
upon its importance, and on the value of such a railway urged, that there was more room for improvement in those
to the social and commercial interests of the two countries. countries: that may be so, but this would not affect the case,
Let us consider the present situation and the circum- for there was and is room enough for improvement at home.
stances which would affect, favourably or otherwise, a Within one generation railways have produced wonder-
Channel Railway. ful revolutions on the Continent. The despotic govern-
A sheet of water, impassable at all times to the bulk of ments of several great nations have given way to truly
a people, although a highway of their sailors, is a most liberal institutions; continental industry rivals already
effectual barrier between two countries. Free inter- that of England. And how was all that brought about ?
course is checked ; the exchange of ideas and thought The immediate causes of these changes may seem in-
limited to a small class of traders and travellers, not to numerable ; and yet, there is only one great cause at
mention the learned, who in all countries form but a the bottom of all this change, viz. enlightenment of the
minority of the people. peoplej and we claim a large share of this result for the
Two nations so situated are generally cold towards each institution of railways.
other, and in time materially differ in their mode of If, then, the combination of thought originating from
living, in their ideas, habits, and in their institutions. A different sources has so much advanced and civilised the
free intercourse need not necessarily obliterate the peculi- Continent, what would be the effect upon England if a
arities of different races; but it has always been an railway could suddenly bring the bulk of her people in
effective means of moderating prejudices. close contact with the continental nations ? A more com-
To attempt a description of the numerous and subtle plex, a higher compound would be formed, and what
ways by ['which the mind of populations may be taken the ultimate effect of this change might be the future alone
hold of—and even be guided—would be beyond our could tell; all that can be said with certainty at present
present object; but as a means of self-education is this, that enlightenment must follow in a potential form.
and consequent civilisation, there could not be a more Excursion trains would take the million to and from
powerful instrument than railways, because they offer the either country ; excursions to and from Paris would be
readiest, most convenient, and the cheapest means of made with the same convenience and comfort as now
communication between one individual and another. between Manchester, Liverpool, London, and other large
Half-a-century ago the bulk of a nation was enclosed towns ; in short, the social effect of the change would
within its own walls; only a small minority could afford be immense ; and how would it affect the commercial
to travel and to observe, to exchange and to induce thottght. interests ? Enough has already been said to show that a
That in which all schools must necessarily fail, or at least channel railway in good working condition would accom-
can succeed but indifferently—viz., the education of the plish wonders, and it maybe easily perceived that, though all
million—railways are accomplishing with extraordinary will be gainers by the change, England would gain the most.
rapidity; their civilising influence is constantly at work : This being so, then, the next point is to analyse the
they cover England more than any other country, and different projects which have been proposed for bringing
accordingly England derives all the benefit which that the result about. Among these, the Bridge scheme has
institution may confer on a people. Railways are also in naturally received considerable public attention. To the
a great measure covering France, Belgium, Germany, &c. • non-professional mind it appears a plausible proposition,
but there is an essential difference between the effect and enough support has been given to its promoters to
which they may produce in England and on the Conti- enable them to promise wonders.
nent. In England they interchange and mix the ideas We have no definite plan of the proposed bridge, but we
and habits principally of the Anglo-Saxon race, some have a Channel Bridge Company; we have not even a de-
twenty odd millions; on the Continent they cause to finite outline of the main engineering features, but we have
mingle several great nations of different race : certainly the assurance of the success of amodel which, in the opinion

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

Dec. 9, 1869] NA TURE
of the projector, might be enlarged to any extent. The
span of the bridge is evidently not agreed upon, nor is the
construction of the. piers determined; we are assured
that we may have any span we like, and that there is no
difficulty about the piers ; in fact, the only thing wanted
to complete this great national work in three years, appears
to be a subscription of eight millions sterling to the credit
account of the Channel Bridge Company.
The vagueness of the scheme is the safeguard of its
promoters. W e cannot even describe the propositions
without running the risk of being contradicted on every
p o i n t ; it is even intimated that it is premature to discuss
the scientific questions of the Channel Bridge scheme.
We have a few facts, however, on which we may safely
enlarge. It is admitted, that from Dover to Blanc Nez, a
distance of twenty-one miles, a number of piers are in-
dispensable. In 1868, the distance was to be crossed by
ten spans, each over 9,000 feet in the clear, and we have a
diagram of that monster bridge. In 1869 rumour will
have it that the number of spans is to be increased from
ten to thirty, making the reduced span still over 3,000
feet in the clear. With the first proposition we should
have had nine piers, with the latter, twenty-nine, washed
by the waters of the Channel.
Whatever the ultimate number of piers may^be, it is
evident that some of them must be constructed in water
exceeding 30 fathoms, or 180 feet in depth (according to
the Admiralty Chart) ; moreover, these piers are to be
360 feet above high water, making the total height of the
structure of some of them over 540 feet from the bottom
of the Channel. Let us see how one of these pyramids
is to be constructed midway the Channel.
The projector discards masonry, for no operations
180 feet below water level are practicable ;• and as the
foundations themselves would have to be carried down
another indefinite number of feet, the depth and consequent
pressure would render life, and therefore work, impossible.
A new construction of piers had to be invented, and
herein should be found the virtue of the design; let the
agents of the Channel Bridge Company tell their story:—
The project depends in effect on two remarkable innovations in
the construction and establishment of the piers and metallic beams.
In addition to the considerable height to which the former rise
above the water (120 yards), the bases of the piers are sunk to
the bottom at a depth varying from 28 to 52 yards. Except the
centre one, all the piers at their foundations measure 130 yards in
width and 87 yards in length, diminishing upwards, and forming
at the summit a square of 66 yards on each side. The centre
pier will be half as large again as the others. All the pieces
composing the work are of cast-iron, and furnish, without in-
creasing the weight, a power of resistance superior to all other
kinds of construction.
As such ponderous piers could not be erected by the ordinary
means, M. Boutet proposes to construct on the shore their lower
parts or bases to a height sufficient to rise ten yards above high
water, and as soon as the iron skeleton is put together and
bolted, a number of large sheet-iron buoys are distributed about
ihe immense surface of the base. At low water the metallic
framework thus prepared is made to slide upon the shore to low-
water mark. The tide, in rising, raises this raft or base of iron
lightened by the buoys, and floats it. A tug steamer then removes
it to its place, previously indicated by one of a line of buoys at-
tached to an iron cable, stretched across the Straits at a depth of
eighteen yards. By raising one of the buoys attached to the raft
it is made to descend very slowly, the top being just above the
level of the sea when the base touches the bottom. Thus are
avoided all the preliminary works under water, which con-
stitute the greatest difficulty in the way of a. bridge across the
Channel.
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
161
Certainly, we have here Baron Munchausen over
again. These cast-iron piers, with a base of 390 ft. by
260 ft., over 200 ft. high, we are Informed, are to weigh
about 2,500 tons, W h a t is the thickness of their metal to
be ? Information is wanting on this p o i n t ; but an iron
structure of these dimensions, to bed itself on the bottom
of the Channel, could not be designed of less than ten
times the weight named.
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that the rise of the
tide would float that structure away by the means above
described—and our business is to analyse the project as it
is, not to suggest or attempt to improve on it—may we
not ask with surprise, where would the centre of gravity
of this floating structure be ? Its centre of gravity would
be about ninety feet above the level of the water, and
at least one hundred feet above the centre of displace-
ment, W h y do our ships not upset, what insures their
stability, and why do they right themselves? Mainly,
because their centre of gravity is in. its lowest position,
below their centre of displacement. Here, however, we
have a floating structure in which the centre of gravity
would be enormously above the centre of displacement,
and in its highest position. A slight oscillation, a breath
of wind would overturn it, and suppose it could be floated
away from shore, it would topple over—right itself upside
down; the "sheet-iron buoys" would be uppermost, and
the structure below them, forming a gigantic wreck some-
where in the Channel.
So much, then, about the piers. It may give the ordinary
reader an idea of the character of this scheme. Shall we
say anything about the 9,000 and odd feet clear span ?
At first sight it appears to be a typographical error;
surely 900 and odd feet were meant; but then we meet
with the fact of the Channel being divided into ten spans,
so there is no getting out of it.
The whole proposition is the offspring of a highly
imaginative mind. Of all the schemes or suggestions to
cross the Channel by rail, this is the most incoherent.
There is nothing in it—not one point of merit. It is not
bold, because it lacks the spirit of boldness, viz. Sense.
Not a trace of an engineer's mind is to be found in it.
Our asylums produce innumerable schemes of this kind,
but they are not permitted to disturb the public mind.
It is a relief to have done with it. W e are glad to say
there are several projects which do not lack either
sense or ability on the part of the originators. Some of
them appear practicable, and one or two highly pro-
mising of success, and these will form the subject of our
next communication.
DANA'S MINERALOGY
A System of Mineralogy: Descriptive Mineralogy com-
prising the most Recent Discoveries. By James
Dwight Dana, Silliman Professor of Geology and
Mineralogy in Y.ale College, etc., aided by George
Jarvis Brush, Professor of Mineralogy and Metal-
lurgy in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Col-
lege. Fifth edition, 8vo, pp. 827, figures 617, (London:
Triibner & Co.)
I.
F O R T Y years ago mineralogy was a fashionable sub-
ject in England ; wealthy people collected minerals,
though probably but few of those who did so ever made
mineralogy a serious study. But mineralogy, under the
Dec. 9, 1869] NA TURE
of the projector, might be enlarged to any extent. The
span of the bridge is evidently not agreed upon, nor is the
construction of the. piers determined; we are assured
that we may have any span we like, and that there is no
difficulty about the piers ; in fact, the only thing wanted
to complete this great national work in three years, appears
to be a subscription of eight millions sterling to the credit
account of the Channel Bridge Company.
The vagueness of the scheme is the safeguard of its
promoters. W e cannot even describe the propositions
without running the risk of being contradicted on every
p o i n t ; it is even intimated that it is premature to discuss
the scientific questions of the Channel Bridge scheme.
We have a few facts, however, on which we may safely
enlarge. It is admitted, that from Dover to Blanc Nez, a
distance of twenty-one miles, a number of piers are in-
dispensable. In 1868, the distance was to be crossed by
ten spans, each over 9,000 feet in the clear, and we have a
diagram of that monster bridge. In 1869 rumour will
have it that the number of spans is to be increased from
ten to thirty, making the reduced span still over 3,000
feet in the clear. With the first proposition we should
have had nine piers, with the latter, twenty-nine, washed
by the waters of the Channel.
Whatever the ultimate number of piers may^be, it is
evident that some of them must be constructed in water
exceeding 30 fathoms, or 180 feet in depth (according to
the Admiralty Chart) ; moreover, these piers are to be
360 feet above high water, making the total height of the
structure of some of them over 540 feet from the bottom
of the Channel. Let us see how one of these pyramids
is to be constructed midway the Channel.
The projector discards masonry, for no operations
180 feet below water level are practicable ;• and as the
foundations themselves would have to be carried down
another indefinite number of feet, the depth and consequent
pressure would render life, and therefore work, impossible.
A new construction of piers had to be invented, and
herein should be found the virtue of the design; let the
agents of the Channel Bridge Company tell their story:—
The project depends in effect on two remarkable innovations in
the construction and establishment of the piers and metallic beams.
In addition to the considerable height to which the former rise
above the water (120 yards), the bases of the piers are sunk to
the bottom at a depth varying from 28 to 52 yards. Except the
centre one, all the piers at their foundations measure 130 yards in
width and 87 yards in length, diminishing upwards, and forming
at the summit a square of 66 yards on each side. The centre
pier will be half as large again as the others. All the pieces
composing the work are of cast-iron, and furnish, without in-
creasing the weight, a power of resistance superior to all other
kinds of construction.
As such ponderous piers could not be erected by the ordinary
means, M. Boutet proposes to construct on the shore their lower
parts or bases to a height sufficient to rise ten yards above high
water, and as soon as the iron skeleton is put together and
bolted, a number of large sheet-iron buoys are distributed about
ihe immense surface of the base. At low water the metallic
framework thus prepared is made to slide upon the shore to low-
water mark. The tide, in rising, raises this raft or base of iron
lightened by the buoys, and floats it. A tug steamer then removes
it to its place, previously indicated by one of a line of buoys at-
tached to an iron cable, stretched across the Straits at a depth of
eighteen yards. By raising one of the buoys attached to the raft
it is made to descend very slowly, the top being just above the
level of the sea when the base touches the bottom. Thus are
avoided all the preliminary works under water, which con-
stitute the greatest difficulty in the way of a. bridge across the
Channel.
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
161
Certainly, we have here Baron Munchausen over
again. These cast-iron piers, with a base of 390 ft. by
260 ft., over 200 ft. high, we are Informed, are to weigh
about 2,500 tons, W h a t is the thickness of their metal to
be ? Information is wanting on this p o i n t ; but an iron
structure of these dimensions, to bed itself on the bottom
of the Channel, could not be designed of less than ten
times the weight named.
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that the rise of the
tide would float that structure away by the means above
described—and our business is to analyse the project as it
is, not to suggest or attempt to improve on it—may we
not ask with surprise, where would the centre of gravity
of this floating structure be ? Its centre of gravity would
be about ninety feet above the level of the water, and
at least one hundred feet above the centre of displace-
ment, W h y do our ships not upset, what insures their
stability, and why do they right themselves? Mainly,
because their centre of gravity is in. its lowest position,
below their centre of displacement. Here, however, we
have a floating structure in which the centre of gravity
would be enormously above the centre of displacement,
and in its highest position. A slight oscillation, a breath
of wind would overturn it, and suppose it could be floated
away from shore, it would topple over—right itself upside
down; the "sheet-iron buoys" would be uppermost, and
the structure below them, forming a gigantic wreck some-
where in the Channel.
So much, then, about the piers. It may give the ordinary
reader an idea of the character of this scheme. Shall we
say anything about the 9,000 and odd feet clear span ?
At first sight it appears to be a typographical error;
surely 900 and odd feet were meant; but then we meet
with the fact of the Channel being divided into ten spans,
so there is no getting out of it.
The whole proposition is the offspring of a highly
imaginative mind. Of all the schemes or suggestions to
cross the Channel by rail, this is the most incoherent.
There is nothing in it—not one point of merit. It is not
bold, because it lacks the spirit of boldness, viz. Sense.
Not a trace of an engineer's mind is to be found in it.
Our asylums produce innumerable schemes of this kind,
but they are not permitted to disturb the public mind.
It is a relief to have done with it. W e are glad to say
there are several projects which do not lack either
sense or ability on the part of the originators. Some of
them appear practicable, and one or two highly pro-
mising of success, and these will form the subject of our
next communication.
DANA'S MINERALOGY
A System of Mineralogy: Descriptive Mineralogy com-
prising the most Recent Discoveries. By James
Dwight Dana, Silliman Professor of Geology and
Mineralogy in Y.ale College, etc., aided by George
Jarvis Brush, Professor of Mineralogy and Metal-
lurgy in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Col-
lege. Fifth edition, 8vo, pp. 827, figures 617, (London:
Triibner & Co.)
I.
F O R T Y years ago mineralogy was a fashionable sub-
ject in England ; wealthy people collected minerals,
though probably but few of those who did so ever made
mineralogy a serious study. But mineralogy, under the
162 NA
then received doctrines of Mohs, was rather a system than
a science; rather a system by which the place of a mineral
in a classified list, grouped after little else than external
appearances, could be determined by a few simple experi-
ments, than a science dealing with the more subtle pro-
perties and qualities of the objects it classifies, and treat-
ing external resemblances as of no importance unless
associated with analogies in composition or chemical
type. No doubt it is to a great progress of mineralogy
in this latter direction, associated as it has been with a
corresponding development of crystallography and crys-
tallographic optics, that the falling off in the votaries of
these sciences is in a great measure due.
The mere collector for collecting's sake would prefer
now-a-days to expend his money on shells or his research
on fossils or plants, for a tolerable familiarity with which
little preliminary education is needed, to investing his
means and puzzling his mind with a science which has
become a department of chemistry, and needs, besides
sound chemical ideas, a thorough practical acquaintance
with another and that a mathematical science, namely,
crystallography.
To a similar cause is due, in part at least, the compara-
tive indifference with which crystallography is treated by
chemists and mineralogy by our geologists.
No doubt these two great sciences, chemistry and
geology, between them cover nearly all the ground occu-
pied by mineralogy. But our chemists are engrossed by
great problems that may be said to be involved in the
nature, if not even in the structure, of the gaseous mole-
cule ; they have hardly yet turned to that side of the
problem which will one day be illustrated by the physics
of the crystal molecule. So again the geologist in his
character of historian of the earth is occupied with the
relations of the manifold forms of life that have congre-
gated on our globe, and their distribution in time ; or else
witn the great dynamical causes that have engineered this
"dsedal earth" of ours into its present superficial form.
And in England the chemical causes to which so large
an amount of change in the character and bulk of rocks
and in minerals is due are rarely within the grasp of our
leading geologists.
In Germany it is otherwise. There, a preliminary edu-
cation in mathematics or in chemistry, and by natural
sequence in crystallography and mineralogy, is the almost
universal introduction to the study of geology. So that
to the German student, crystallography, as a science of
observation with the goniometer, and of calculation with
formulae, is no rare accomplishment; and the little collec-
tion he makes during his student years, whether of minerals
or of chemical preparations and crystals, forms a nucleus
round which is gathered a great deal of valuable and
exact knowledge, which he builds on work with his gonio-
meter and his balance, and often with the microscope at
home or his hammer in the field. The School of Mines
here is producing a few men with many of these qualifi-
cations, but it may be questioned whether a more mathe-
matical basis is not needed in that as in other similar
educational institutions in England.
At any rate we do not turn out here the many-sided
geologists that Germany produces, as witness the school
of chemical geologists with Bischof at its head, or the
admirable works on petrology by German authors; for
© 1869 Natune Publishing Group
\Dec. 9, 1869
the German geologist does not write on rocks till he has
acquired a scientific acquaintance with the minerals that
compose them.
In France, again, the nation of Haiiy, if mineralogy,
perhaps from the smaller importance of French mining
industry, is not so widely pursued as it is in Germany, it
has nevertheless always had its careful, thorough, and
scientific votaries. Indeed, in our own day, the researches
of Des Cloizeaux, following up those of Grailich, and his
brilliant little constellation of Viennese crystallographers,
have shown how absolutely essential is the study of the
optical constants of crystals to any complete science of
chemistry or mineralogy. We may, indeed, console our-
selves for our shortcomings in England by the reflection
that to an Englishman is due a system of crystallographic
notation, and an extended use in crystallography of
spherical trigonometry, which have long given to that
science a greater symmetry and simplicity in its formulae ;
so that now the system of Professor W. H. Miller is
gradually displacing every other on the Continent,
But when we turn from Europe to America, we should
expect that we should have to judge by other standards ;
for there a sterner call summons men to the study of
mineralogy than is the case in the Old World. Where any
pioneer on a new bit of mountain land may light upon
mineral wealth like that of the Washoo district of the
territory of Idaho, there is a need for pioneers who are
mineralogists; and it is but justice to the American instinct
for perceiving, and genius for supplying, whatever is wanted
under novel conditions of life, to say, that in mineralogical
science and mining enterprise the Americans have been
equal to the demands and to the splendid opportunities
that the New World has presented to them.
Of this the work, the title-page of which heads this
article, is an admirable evidence. Written to meet the
wants of eager and intelligent young ore-seekers in the
vast stretches of plain and mountain between the Atlantic
and the Pacific, it has satisfied these wants perfectly, and
helped to produce (we had almost written has produced)
an admirable American school of mineralogists. But it
has done more than this : it may almost be called the
text-book of mineralogy for Europe ; and it is so for the
reason that its ingenious and talented author is laborious ;
and is not only laborious, but able to throw off a pre-
judice like an old garment. It is this freshness of mind
and power of work that has made the successive editions
of his mineralogy not only not reprints, but essentially
original books, and even made them an interesting pyscho-
logical study of one who may be taken as a typical Ame-
rican man of science.
The chief features that distinguish the large and hand-
some volume representing Professor Dana's new, that is
to say, his fifth edition, are—Firstly, modifications in his
system of classification; Secondly, alterations in the nomen-
clature ; and Thirdly, a new chemical notation. Professor
Dana still retains his peculiar graphic method for the
representation of the zones of crystals and his notation for
their planes. Both of these, we believe, he will discard in
some future edition which we earnestly hope that he may
live to carry through. The notation is rather complicated
than simplified by the employment as symbols of the
letter i in its different phases of italic and capital, which,
together with the figure I, are used to represent what, in
 Dec. 9, 1869]
fact, are the most frequently recurrent and concurrent
planes of a crystal. The far greater elegance of the stereo-
graphic projection for the representation of the 2ones of a
crystal than the sort of contracted and symbolised Quen-
stedtian method employed by Professor Dana will certainly
prevent this latter from ever becoming adopted in other
works. Passing from the crystallographic to the chemical
notation, we may say that Professor Dana accepts a sort
of nuclear theory of chemical combination, and illustrates
this by a corresponding notation. As, however, the use
of this system is only partially introduced into the work,
NATURE 163
we may dismiss it with the remark that, inasmuch as the
use of formula? of one shape or another to express a
particular compound can only be a relative and not an
absolute expression of the modes in which its elementary
units are combined, when one such formula or system
of formulating is to be conventionally selected for adop-
tion, that will be the best to select which expresses best the
relations between the compounds from the point of view
of the author employing them. Professor Dana's does not
seem to us to meet this requirement as from the point of
view of the mineralogist. N. STORY MASKELYNE.

not that it is a basin with a rim all round to act as an in-

BELL'S NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA surmountable barrier to drainage, but rather because it is
New Tracks in North America: A Journal of Travel in reality a collection of hundreds of smaller basins, each
and Adventure in 1867-68. By W. A. Bell, M.B., of which has its stream and lake, which lose by evaporation
F.R.G.S., &c. With a map, 20 lithographs, 22 wood- and percolation what is supplied by the limited rainfall.
cuts, and 3 botanical plates. 2 vols., 236 and 322 pp. Cultivation is, however, increasing the rainfall in Utah,
(Chapman & Hall.) and the Great Salt Lake has consequently of late years
'"PHIS is an unusually important book of travels, giving been steadily rising. The rainfall from year to year is
interesting particulars of the vast wild Western irregular. At Fort Yuma, on the borders of California
country which,
and Arizona, it
though still the
was in four re-
home of the Above cent years o'33,
Apache and the the Sea.
8'5 7, 4-20, and
Buffalo, is every
2'94inches. Irri-
day being more
6,800 ft. gation must be
and more
resorted to for
broughtintosub-
all agricultural
jection by the
operations.
settlers, traders,
miners, capital- 5,600 ft. The barren,
ists, and railways monotonous
of the " Anglo- mountainranges
S a x o n s ' ^ Ame- of the great basin
rica, as Dr. Bell are rich in mine-
calls them. rals. One silver
4,600 ft. lode, the Corn-
The author stock, yields an-
was well placed nually four mil-
for obtaining re- lions sterling, or
liable informa- more than all the
tion, having been mines in Mexico,
attached in 1867 and Nevada fur-
to the surveying nished twenty
expeditions of million dollars
the Pacific Rail- 1,000 ft. 2,300 ft. of gold in 1867
way as photo- to California's
grapher andphy- twenty-five.
sician. In this Copper and iron
manner he tra- are also plenti-
velled " about ful, and the un-
5,000 miles be- 1,300 ft. worked coal-
yond the pale of fields are nume-
civilisation and rous. Hydraulic
railways." His power is now em-
contributions to SECTION OF T H E CANON OF T H E COLORADO ON T H E HIGH MESA, WEST OF . T H E ployed in mining
LITTLE COLORADO (BY J . S. NEWBERRY, M . D . )
the physical geo- in California.
graphy of the as- The machine
tonishing country south-west of the Rocky range are care- used was invented in 1852 by one Mattison, of Connecticut,
fully done. He writes a brief treatise on the natural drain- and directs a stream of water from a two-inch pipe under a
age system of the district, and especially of the Great Basin, pressure of perhaps 200 ft. perpendicular, which gives a
which is considerably larger than France, and so-called be- tremendous force, against a bank or hill-side, containing
cause none of its rivers reach the sea. The reason of this is placer gold, tearing down the earth into the washing sluices

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 Dec. 9, 1869]
fact, are the most frequently recurrent and concurrent
planes of a crystal. The far greater elegance of the stereo-
graphic projection for the representation of the zones of a
crystal than the sort of contracted and symbolised Quen-
stedtian method employed by Professor Dana will certainly
prevent this latter from ever becoming adopted in other
works. Passing from the crystallographic to the chemical
notation, we may say that Professor Dana accepts a sort
of nuclear theory of chemical combination, and illustrates
this by a corresponding notation. As, however, the use
of this system is only partially introduced into the work,
NATURE 163
we may dismiss it with the remark that, inasmuch as the
use of formulw of one shape or another to express a
particular compound can only be a relative and not an
absolute expression of the modes in which its elementary
units are combined, when one such formula or system
of formulating is to be conventionally selected for adop-
tion, that will be the best to select which expresses best the
relations between the compounds from the point of view
of the author employing them. Professor Dana's does not
seem to us to meet this requirement as from the point of
view of the mineralogist. N. STORY MASKELYNE.

not that it is a basin with a rim all round to act as an in-

BELL'S NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AkIERICA surmountable barrier to drainage, but rather because it is
New Tracks in North A Journal of Travel in reality a collection of hundreds of smaller basins, each
and Adventure in 1867—68. By W. A. Bell, M.B., of which has its stream and lake, which lose by evaporation
F,R.G.S., &c. With a map, 20 lithographs, 22 wood- and percolation what is supplied by the limited rainfall.
cuts, and botanical plates. z vols., 236 and 322 pp. Cultivation is, however, increasing the rainfall in Utah,
(Chapman & Hall.) and the Great Salt Lake has consequently of late years
HIS is an unusually important book of travels, giving been steadily rising. The rainfall from year to year is
'F interesting particulars of the vast wild Western irregular. At Fort Yuma, on the borders of California
country which, and Arizona, it
though still the was in four re-
home of the Above cent years 033,
Colorado.
Apache and the 857, and
Buffalo, is every 1i rc tircstrve.
Irri-
day being more 5,500 ft. 6,800 ft. gation must be
a n d in o r e resorted to for
brou ght into sub. Crns-slratified Eanthtone. all agricultural
jection by the operations.
settlers, traders, Tcd roodoiooe The barren,
gypsum. 5,500 ft.
miners, capital- ,-v- in o n 0 t 0 n 0 U 5
ists, and railways mountainranges
,-u-
of the "Anglo- ofthegreatbasin
Saxons"ofAme- 0- are rich in mine-
rica, as Dr. Bell 2 —
rals. One silver
2,300 ft. 4,600 ft.
calls them. lode, the Com-
The author stock, yields an-
was well placed nually four mil-
for obtaining re- lions sterling, or
liable informa- more than all the
tion, havingbeen mines in Mexico,
attached in 1867 and Nevada fur-
to the surveying nished twenty
expeditions of million dollars
1,000 ft. 2,300
the Pacific Rail- of gold in 1867
way as photo- ,,,— ,.,...—,— 0- - to California's
grapherandphy- - twenty - five.
sician. In this Copper and iron
'a,. -'i-. -a —
manner he tra- •.- ,, .-m.. are also plenti-
.'-.l
velled "about
—.5.-
" The River. si.- 1 300 ft
ful, and the un-
5,000 miles be- 04 worked coal-
_"a_
In
yond the pale of .5— —-
fields are nume-
civilisation and ..-r rous. Hydraulic
railways." His power is now em-
contributions to SECTION OF THE CANON OF THE COLORADO ON THE HIGH MESA, WEST OF THE ployed in mining
LITTLE COLORADO (ov j. S.NEWBERRY, sin.)
the physical geo- in California.
graphy of the as- The machine
tonishing country south-west of the Rocky range are care- used was invented in 1852 by one Mattison, of Connecticut,
fully done. He writes a brief treatise on the natural drain- and directs a stream of water from a two-inch pipe under a
age system of the district, and especially of the Great Basin, pressure of perhaps 200 ft. perpendicular, which gives a
which is considerably larger than France, and so-called be- tremendous force, against a bank or hill-side, containing
cause none of its rivers reach the sea. The reason of this is gold, tearing down the earth into the washing sluices

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

164 NATURE 9, 1869
with great rapidity. This powerful agent is stated to be In the valley beyond this cañon, nearly all the water of
changing the face of the country obliterating valleys, the Aravaypa sinks into the earth. But the cañon of
levelling hills, turning rivers from their course, and canons is the great cañon of the Colorada, discovered by
covering fertile Lopez de Car-
tracts miles in denas in 5540,
extent with bare which is but 100
heaps of gravel. feet wide at its
The most dis- narrowest, while
tinctive features its greatest depth
of the great basin has been baro-
are the caflons, metrically ascer-
those narrow, tamed to be 7,000
deep, abrupt, and feet, or one mile
continous chasms and a third. The
at the bottom of sun only shines
many of which into this terrible
run rapid rivers, chasm for an
unapproachable hour a day, and
by man or ani- it is 550 miles
ma!. They are long. At its hot-
due to the action tom runs the
of water, being swift river from
formed by the which it takes its
passage through name. The ac-
a dry region of count which Dr.
never-failing and Bell gives of
rapid streams, James White's
coming from dis- ROCK flight for life
tant sources cx- down this previ-
tenor to the dry country. The water has worn its way in ously unexplored cañon on a raft, makes a wonderful sea-
some instances through 1,ooo ft. of granite. Where these sation story, which appears to have found believers.
deep cuttings abound, the country is sterile, for they drain We reproduce from Dr. Bell's book a geological section of
it to the utter- this remarkable
most, and the gorge.
streams lie far The alkali flats
below the reach form another dis-
of surface animal tinctive feature in
or vegetable life, the basin. They
One cañon, that are covered with
of the Purgatoire, salts, usual!y ni-
has been so trate of soda, and
named because being perfectly
of the "bright, barren, form
fiery - red sand- white glistening
stone" of which sheets which, in
its walls are corn- the dry unsteady
posed; the effect atmosphere of
of the mass of the desert, be-
colour is said to come tantalising
hewonderful. In mirages. The
another, the Ara- plateaux of the
vaypa, a cliff be- basin region were
low the average, the last portions
was measured, of the West
and found to be whichwere raised
825 ft. high. from the sea;
Here, when the even now subter-
sun had left the THE CEEEUS ranean fires are
upper world, and active, and it is
night had really
come, the blackness of darkness around was something awful, quite possible that gradual upheaval may be still going
and the stars covered the narrow streak of sky above on.
I
Earthquakes are frequent; mud-volcanoes are
seemed to change the heavens into a zigzag belt, every inch of still to he found in places; huge surface cracks have
which was radiant with diamonds.

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 Dec. 9, 1869] NATURE
occurred within the memory of living men, and Dr. Bell
counted 52 jets of steam issuing from the ground in one
valley. A considerable number of the known species of
cactus are found about the Mexican boundaryline; of one of
these, the Cerejes giganteus, which is sometimes called the
Monumental cactus, we give an illustration: the mistletoe
grows in the same region. We also give an engraving of
the "Mushroom Rock," one of the many similar monu-
ments, denuded and abraded by water, which are to be
found in the arid plains of Kansas. Dr. Bell's book
contains thoughtful matter on the Indian races of the past
and present sufficient for a monograph on the subject.
He writes briefly and sensibly on the Mormons, denying
the common assertion that Salt Lake City, setting aside
polygamy, is a moral place, and stating that there is an
entire absence of religious devotion. The Joe Smith
anti-polygamy party are making rapid strides, especially
in the numerous outlying settlements in Utah and Nevada.
OUR BOOK SHELF
Lehrbuch der Chimie, gegriindez' auf die Werlhigkeil
der Elemente. Von. A. Geuther, Prof. in Jena. Erste
Abtheilung. (Jena: Dmbereiner, 1869.)
THE doctrine of Quantivalence plays a most important
part in the general theory of modern chemistry; but when
carried out to the extreme lengths which Dr. Geuther
claims for it, this doctrine, so useful in the classification
of elements, fails altogether to bear an original meaning.
The following is an extract from a table, on page 16 of the
above-named work, showing the Quantivalence of the
elements according to Geuther
H =i
As III.I. Na V. IV. III. II. I.
Ba II. I. Os VIII. VI. IV. III. II.
Br VII. V. III. I. S VI. IV. II. I.
Cs V. IV. III. II. I. N V. III. I.
Cl VII. V. III. I. Ag IV. II. I.
Cr VI. IV. III. II. K V. IV. ill. II. I.
Fe VI. IV. III. II. Mu VII \,TJ IV IlL II.
Fl (VII.) (V.) III. I. I VII. V. III. I,
Here, for example, we find potassium described as acting
as a monad, a dyad, a triad, a tetrad, and a pentad element,
and chlorine as a monad, dyad, triad, pentad, and heptad
element. What does this do more than express, in a
roundabout and inconvenient way, what Dalton long ago
enunciated as combination in multiple proportions—that
great law round which the whole structure of the science
is built up?
The doctrine of Quantivalence is, in strictness, only
applicable in the case of gaseous elements and com-
pounds ; bodies whose molecular weight can be estimated
by their vapours obeying Avogadro's law of volumes, viz.
that the molecule of an element or compound is that
weight of the body which occupies in the gaseous state
the volume of hydrogen gas weighing 2 the Quantiva-
: The recent numbers of the Revue des
lence of an elenlent being determined by the number of
atoms of hydrogen or of chlorine, or other distinctly
monad element or radical, which it may be able to take
up in this molecular volume. By an extension of this
reasoning, we term potassium a monad and barium a dyad
metal, because we find that they each form only one com-
pound with chlorine, potassium combining with one atom
and barium with two; and we assume that KCI and.
BaC1, represent the respective molecular weights of the
compound. Many metals, doubtless, may be considered
to exhibit a variation in Quantivalence: such as iron in the
ferrous and ferric chlorides; mercury in Hg,CL and HgCl,:
though this difference may be also explained in the case of
mercury by the two atoms of metal being joined together.
But to term chlorine a heptad because it forms the corn-
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
165
pound HC1O4, or potassium a pentad because we know of
the body appears to be an exaggeration of a useful
doctrine almost as unphilosophical as the divisible atoms
of M. Delavaud. Apart from these views, Prof. Geuther's
book will be welcomed by all chemists as containing clear
and concise descriptions of many compoands not men-
tioned in other manuals, which are of much importance
for the theory of modern chemistry. H. E. ROSCOE
f/Jr Parasiz'enkunde. H eraus-
gegeben von Dr. E. Hallier und Dr. F. A. Ziirn.
Band I. Zweites Heft. 8vo. pp. 126, with 2 Plates, price
35. (Jena, 1869. London: Williams and Norgate.)
THERE can be no more conclusive evidence of the vigour
with which scientific researches are pursued in Germany
than the fact that a circulation is found for a periodical
publication devoted entirely to the study of parasites,
animal and vegetable. We find in the present number
reports of observations on the glazicus, and
two other newly-discovered parasitic Fungi, found in the
passages of the ear, and connected with certain forms of
deafness, and a description of a cure in the case of the
former species by the external application of alcohol. The
greater part of the number is devoted to a dissertation by
Dr. Hallier on the parasites of infectious diseases. A
portion of this paper is occupied by a discussion whether
the minute ./i'fyxogasfres found on decayed wood, grass,
&c., belong to the animal or vegetable kingdom. Since
the only high authority who has maintained the animal
nature of these parasites, Dr. de Bary, in opposition to
Fries, Berkeley, and others, has since apparently altered
his views, the question may now be considered as disposed
of. If the apparent spontaneous motion of the young
germinating spores of Tricitia and other Fungi be con-
sidered proof of an animal nature, the same argument must
be applied to the zoospores of certain A. W. B.
Serials
IfardwicAe's Science for December, contains,
among others, articles on the employment of wild flowers
for ciecorativepurposes (in gardens), on the invasion of lady-
birds, on the structure of the hairs of plants, on variations in
the I'rimzilaceee, on the influence of food and light on
and on the natural history of the Ruff and Reeve.
The lilonthiy for December
(No. I a) contains some remarks on the nineteen-band
test-plate of Nobert, and on immersion lenses, by Mr.
J. J. Woodward, United States Army; a paper on high-
power definition, with illustrative examples, illustrated
with a plate of test-objects, by Dr. G. W. Royston-Pigott;
and one entitled "My Experience in the Use of various
Microscopes," by Dr. H. Hagen. These relate to the in-
strument and its use. The papers devoted to subjects for
investigation are—one by Mr. Staniland Wake, on the
Development of Organisms in Organic Infusions, and
further remarks on the Plumules or Battledore Scales of
some of the by Mr. John \Vatson, the latter
illustrated with a plate. The Microscopical Society's Pro-
ceedings contain some interesting remarks on the Scales
of the Tizysanura, in connection with Dr. Pigott's paper.
Sc/en 4fiques,
a periodical which is hardly so well known in this country
as it deserves to be, and which is intended to furnish a
general weekly statement of the proceedings of the
principal scientific societies both in France and in other
countries, contain translations of Dr. Christison's historical
account of the operations of the Royal Society of Edin-
burgh from 1783 to i8u ; of Sir Roderick Murchison's
anniversary address to the Geographical Society in May
last ; and of the first of Dr. Bence Jones's lectures on
Matter and Force, delivered before the Royal College of
Physicians. Of foreign scientificdoings, we find a trans-
lation of Carl Vogt's paper on the Primitive History of
Man, read before the meeting of German naturalists at
Innsbriick, and M. Vulpian's lecture on Pathological
Anatomy, delivered at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris.
 Dec. 9, 1869] NA TURE
occurred within the memory of living men, and Dr. Bell
counted 52 jets of steam issuing from the ground in one
valley. A considerable number of the known species of
cactus are found about the Mexican boundary line; of one of
these, the Cereus giganteus, which is sometimes called the
Monumental cactus, we give an illustration: the mistletoe
grows in the same region. W e also give an engraving of
the " Mushroom Rock," one of the many similar monu-
ments, denuded and abraded by water, which are to be
found in the arid plains of Kansas. Dr. Bell's book
contains thoughtful matter on the Indian races of the past
and present sufficient for a monograph on the subject.
He writes briefly and sensibly on the Mormons, denying
the common assertion that Salt Lake City, setting aside
polygamy, is a moral place, and stating that there is an
entire absence of religious devotion. The Joe Smith
anti-polygamy party are making rapid strides, especially
in the numerous outlying settlements in Utah and Nevada.
OUR BOOK SHELF
Lehrbuch der Chimie, gegriindet auf die Werthigkeit
der Elemente. "Von. A. Geuther, Prof, in Jena. Erste
Abtheilung. (Jena: Dcebereiner, 1869.)
THE doctrine of Quantivalence plays a most important
part in the general theory of modern chemistry; but when
carried out to the extreme lengths which Dr. Geuther
claims for it, this doctrine, so useful in the classification
of elements, fails altogether to bear an original meaning.
The following is an extract from a table, on page 16 of the
above-named work, showing the Quantivalence of the
elements according to Geuther :—
H = 1
As V. III. I. ! Na V. IV. III. II. I.
Ba II. I. j Os VIII. VI. IV. III. II.
Br VII. V. III. I. 1S, VI. IV. II. I.
Cs V. IV. III. II. I. iN V. III. I.
CI VII. V. III. I. ! A- IV. II. I.
Cr VI. IV. III. II. !K V. IV. III. II. I.
Fe VI. IV. III. II. I Mn VII. VI. IV. III. II.
Fl (VII.) (V.) III. I. j I VII. V. III. I.
Here, for example, we find potassium described as acting
as a monad, a dyad, a triad, a tetrad, and a pentad element,
and chlorine as a monad, dyad, triad, pentad, and heptad
element. W h a t does this do more than express, in a
roundabout and inconvenient way, what Dalton long ago
enunciated as combination in multiple proportions—that
great law round which the whole structure of the science
is built up ?
The doctrine of Quantivalence is, in strictness, only
applicable in the case of gaseous elements and com-
pounds ; bodies whose molecular weight can be estimated
by their vapours obeying Avogadro's law of volumes, viz.
that the molecule of an element or compound is that
weight of the body which occupies in the gaseous state
the volume of hydrogen gas weighing 2 : the Quantiva-
lence of an element being determined by the number of
atoms of hydrogen or of chlorine, or other distinctly
monad element or radical, which it may be able to take
up in this molecular volume. By an extension of this
reasoning, we term potassium a monad and barium a dyad
metal, because we find that they each form only one com-
pound with chlorine, potassium combining with one atom
and barium with t w o ; and we assume that KC1 and
BaCl 3 represent the respective molecular weights of the
compound. Many metals, doubtless, may be considered
to exhibit a variation in Quantivalence': such as iron in the
ferrous and ferric chlorides; mercury in Hg 3 CL and H g C l 3 :
though this difference may be also explained in the case of
mercury by the two atoms of metal being joined together.
But to term chlorine a heptad because it forms the com-
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
165
pound HC10 4 , or potassium a pentad because we know of
the body K a S 5 , appears to be an exaggeration of a useful
doctrine almost as unphilosophical as the divisible atoms
of M. Delavaud. Apart from these views, Prof. Geuther's
book will be welcomed by all chemists as containing clear
and concise descriptions of many compounds not men-
tioned in other manuals, which are of much importance
for the theory of modern chemistry. H. E. R O S C O E
Parasitology.—Zeitschrift fiir Parasiteukunde. Heraus-
gegeben von Dr. E. Hallier und Dr. F . A. Ziirn.
Band I. Zweites Heft. 8vo. pp. 126, with 2 Plates, price
3.)-. (Jena, 1869. London : Williams and Norgate.)
T H E R E can be no more conclusive evidence of the vigour
with which scientific researches are pursued in Germany
than the fact that a circulation is found for a periodical
publication devoted entirely to the study of parasites,
animal and vegetable. W e find in the present number
reports of observations on the Aspergillus glaucus, and
two other newly-discovered parasitic Fungi, found in the
passages of the ear, and connected with certain forms of
deafness, and a description of a cure in the case of the
former species by the external application of alcohol. T h e
greater part of the number is devoted to a dissertation by
Dr. Hallier on the parasites of infectious diseases. A
portion of this paper is occupied by a discussion whether
the minute Myxogastres found on decayed wood, grass,
&c, belong to the animal or vegetable kingdom. Since
the only high authority who has maintained the animal
nature of these parasites, Dr. de Bary, in opposition to
Fries, Berkeley, and others, has since apparently altered
his views, the question may now be considered as disposed
of. If the apparent spontaneous motion of the young
germinating spores of Trichia and other Fungi be con-
sidered proof of an animal nature, the same argument must
be applied to the zoospores of certain Alga;. A. W. B.
Serials
Hardwickds Science Gossip, for December, contains,
among others, articles on the employment of wild flowers
for decorativepurposes (in gardens), on the invasion of lady-
birds, on the structure of the hairs of plants, on variations in
the Primulaccm, on the influence of food and light on Lepi-
doptcra, and on the natural history of the Ruff and Reeve.
T h e Monthly Microscopical Journal for December
(No. 12) contains some remarks on the nineteen-band
test-plate of Nobert, and on immersion lenses, by Mr.
J. J. Woodward, United States Army ; a paper on high-
power definition, with illustrative examples, illustrated
with a plate of test-objects, by Dr. G. W. Royston-Pigott;
and one entitled " My Experience in the Use of various
Microscopes," by Dr. H. Hagen. These relate to the in-
strument and its use. T h e papers devoted to subjects for
investigation are—one by Mr. Staniland Wake, on the
Development of Organisms in Organic Infusions, and
further remarks on the Plumules or Battledore Scales of
some of the Lepidoptera, by Mr. John Watson, the latter
illustrated with a plate. T h e Microscopical Society's Pro-
ceedings contain some interesting remarks on the Scales
of the Thysanura, in connection with Dr. Pigott's paper.
The recent numbers of the Revue desCours Scientifiques,
a periodical which is hardly so well known in this country
as it deserves to be, and which is intended to furnish a
general weekly statement of the proceedings of the
principal scientific societies both in France and in other
countries, contain translations of Dr. Christison's historical
account of the operations of the Royal Society of Edin-
burgh from 1783 to 1811 ; of Sir Roderick Murchison's
anniversary address to the Geographical Society in May
l a s t ; and of the first of Dr. Bence Jones's lectures on
Matter and Force, delivered before the Royal College of
Physicians. Of foreign scientific doings, we find a trans-
lation of Carl Vogt's paper on the Primitive History of
Man, read before the meeting of German naturalists at
Innsbruck, and M. Vulpian's lecture on Pathological
Anatomy, delivered at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris.
 Dec. 9, 1869] NA TURE
occurred within the memory of living men, and Dr. Bell
counted 52 jets of steam issuing from the ground in one
valley. A considerable number of the known species of
cactus are found about the Mexican boundary line; of one of
these, the Cereus giganteus, which is sometimes called the
Monumental cactus, we give an illustration: the mistletoe
grows in the same region. W e also give an engraving of
the " Mushroom Rock," one of the many similar monu-
ments, denuded and abraded by water, which are to be
found in the arid plains of Kansas. Dr. Bell's book
contains thoughtful matter on the Indian races of the past
and present sufficient for a monograph on the subject.
He writes briefly and sensibly on the Mormons, denying
the common assertion that Salt Lake City, setting aside
polygamy, is a moral place, and stating that there is an
entire absence of religious devotion. The Joe Smith
anti-polygamy party are making rapid strides, especially
in the numerous outlying settlements in Utah and Nevada.
OUR BOOK SHELF
Lehrbuch der Chimie, gegriindet auf die Werthigkeit
der Elemente. "Von. A. Geuther, Prof, in Jena. Erste
Abtheilung. (Jena: Dcebereiner, 1869.)
THE doctrine of Quantivalence plays a most important
part in the general theory of modern chemistry; but when
carried out to the extreme lengths which Dr. Geuther
claims for it, this doctrine, so useful in the classification
of elements, fails altogether to bear an original meaning.
The following is an extract from a table, on page 16 of the
above-named work, showing the Quantivalence of the
elements according to Geuther :—
H = 1
As V. III. I. ! Na V. IV. III. II. I.
Ba II. I. j Os VIII. VI. IV. III. II.
Br VII. V. III. I. 1S, VI. IV. II. I.
Cs V. IV. III. II. I. iN V. III. I.
CI VII. V. III. I. ! A- IV. II. I.
Cr VI. IV. III. II. !K V. IV. III. II. I.
Fe VI. IV. III. II. I Mn VII. VI. IV. III. II.
Fl (VII.) (V.) III. I. j I VII. V. III. I.
Here, for example, we find potassium described as acting
as a monad, a dyad, a triad, a tetrad, and a pentad element,
and chlorine as a monad, dyad, triad, pentad, and heptad
element. W h a t does this do more than express, in a
roundabout and inconvenient way, what Dalton long ago
enunciated as combination in multiple proportions—that
great law round which the whole structure of the science
is built up ?
The doctrine of Quantivalence is, in strictness, only
applicable in the case of gaseous elements and com-
pounds ; bodies whose molecular weight can be estimated
by their vapours obeying Avogadro's law of volumes, viz.
that the molecule of an element or compound is that
weight of the body which occupies in the gaseous state
the volume of hydrogen gas weighing 2 : the Quantiva-
lence of an element being determined by the number of
atoms of hydrogen or of chlorine, or other distinctly
monad element or radical, which it may be able to take
up in this molecular volume. By an extension of this
reasoning, we term potassium a monad and barium a dyad
metal, because we find that they each form only one com-
pound with chlorine, potassium combining with one atom
and barium with t w o ; and we assume that KC1 and
BaCl 3 represent the respective molecular weights of the
compound. Many metals, doubtless, may be considered
to exhibit a variation in Quantivalence': such as iron in the
ferrous and ferric chlorides; mercury in Hg 3 CL and H g C l 3 :
though this difference may be also explained in the case of
mercury by the two atoms of metal being joined together.
But to term chlorine a heptad because it forms the com-
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
165
pound HC10 4 , or potassium a pentad because we know of
the body K a S 5 , appears to be an exaggeration of a useful
doctrine almost as unphilosophical as the divisible atoms
of M. Delavaud. Apart from these views, Prof. Geuther's
book will be welcomed by all chemists as containing clear
and concise descriptions of many compounds not men-
tioned in other manuals, which are of much importance
for the theory of modern chemistry. H. E. R O S C O E
Parasitology.—Zeitschrift fiir Parasiteukunde. Heraus-
gegeben von Dr. E. Hallier und Dr. F . A. Ziirn.
Band I. Zweites Heft. 8vo. pp. 126, with 2 Plates, price
3.)-. (Jena, 1869. London : Williams and Norgate.)
T H E R E can be no more conclusive evidence of the vigour
with which scientific researches are pursued in Germany
than the fact that a circulation is found for a periodical
publication devoted entirely to the study of parasites,
animal and vegetable. W e find in the present number
reports of observations on the Aspergillus glaucus, and
two other newly-discovered parasitic Fungi, found in the
passages of the ear, and connected with certain forms of
deafness, and a description of a cure in the case of the
former species by the external application of alcohol. T h e
greater part of the number is devoted to a dissertation by
Dr. Hallier on the parasites of infectious diseases. A
portion of this paper is occupied by a discussion whether
the minute Myxogastres found on decayed wood, grass,
&c, belong to the animal or vegetable kingdom. Since
the only high authority who has maintained the animal
nature of these parasites, Dr. de Bary, in opposition to
Fries, Berkeley, and others, has since apparently altered
his views, the question may now be considered as disposed
of. If the apparent spontaneous motion of the young
germinating spores of Trichia and other Fungi be con-
sidered proof of an animal nature, the same argument must
be applied to the zoospores of certain Alga;. A. W. B.
Serials
Hardwickds Science Gossip, for December, contains,
among others, articles on the employment of wild flowers
for decorativepurposes (in gardens), on the invasion of lady-
birds, on the structure of the hairs of plants, on variations in
the Primulaccm, on the influence of food and light on Lepi-
doptcra, and on the natural history of the Ruff and Reeve.
T h e Monthly Microscopical Journal for December
(No. 12) contains some remarks on the nineteen-band
test-plate of Nobert, and on immersion lenses, by Mr.
J. J. Woodward, United States Army ; a paper on high-
power definition, with illustrative examples, illustrated
with a plate of test-objects, by Dr. G. W. Royston-Pigott;
and one entitled " My Experience in the Use of various
Microscopes," by Dr. H. Hagen. These relate to the in-
strument and its use. T h e papers devoted to subjects for
investigation are—one by Mr. Staniland Wake, on the
Development of Organisms in Organic Infusions, and
further remarks on the Plumules or Battledore Scales of
some of the Lepidoptera, by Mr. John Watson, the latter
illustrated with a plate. T h e Microscopical Society's Pro-
ceedings contain some interesting remarks on the Scales
of the Thysanura, in connection with Dr. Pigott's paper.
The recent numbers of the Revue desCours Scientifiques,
a periodical which is hardly so well known in this country
as it deserves to be, and which is intended to furnish a
general weekly statement of the proceedings of the
principal scientific societies both in France and in other
countries, contain translations of Dr. Christison's historical
account of the operations of the Royal Society of Edin-
burgh from 1783 to 1811 ; of Sir Roderick Murchison's
anniversary address to the Geographical Society in May
l a s t ; and of the first of Dr. Bence Jones's lectures on
Matter and Force, delivered before the Royal College of
Physicians. Of foreign scientific doings, we find a trans-
lation of Carl Vogt's paper on the Primitive History of
Man, read before the meeting of German naturalists at
Innsbruck, and M. Vulpian's lecture on Pathological
Anatomy, delivered at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris.
166 NA TURE
THE DEEP-SEA DREDGING EXPEDITION
IN H.M.S. ''PORCUPINE"
NATURAL HISTORY {continued)
HIS being a preliminary report, I will make only a
T few remarks as to the Mollusca obtained in the ex-
pedition, and with respect to that part of the sea-bed
which I investigated :—
r. The Mollusca are mostly Arctic or Northern.—This I
have shown in my narrative as regards the western coasts
of Ireland, which have hitherto been supposed to belong
zoologically to what Professor Edward Forbes called the
" Lusitanian " province ; and the present remark applies
not only to deep water, but to shallow water, and even the
bays. In Prof. Wyville Thomson's cruise to the south-
west of Ireland occurred two species, which I was quite
unprepared to see. These were Solarium Siculum, and
an unmistakeable fragment of Cassidaria Tyrrhena. The
former inhabits the Mediterranean, Madeira, Canaries,
and the coast of Portugal ; and the latter has not been
noticed north of Brittany. Such exceptions, as well as
Ostrea cochlear, Murex imbricatus, and Platydia ano-
mioides, it is difficult to account for ; but as all these
species are said to inhabit deep water, the Equatorial
current may have carried them northwards in an embryonic
state ; or it is possible that they may be likewise Northern
species, and have not yet been discovered in high latitudes.
We are nearly ignorant of the Arctic Mollusca, owing to
the difficulty of exploration ; and those who assume that
the marine fauna of the circumpolar seas is poor or wants
variety, ought to see the vast collection made by Prof.
Torelf at Spitzbergen. The greatest depth at which he
dredged there was 280 fathoms. The soundings taken in
1868 by the last Swedish Expedition reached 2,600 fathoms,
when a Cuma and a fragment of an Astarte came up
in the Bulldog machine. Soundings, however, are very
insufficient for zoological purposes. Judging by the results
of our own expedition this year, which have increased to
such a wonderful extent our list of the British marine
fauna living beyond the ordinary line of soundings, it may
fairly be taken "for granted that the Arctic marine fauna is
much less known than ours. I have not the slightest doubt
that by another expedition to Spitzbergen, provided with
improved machinery, and under the charge of the Professor
at Lund or some other able zoologist, the species obtained
would be double the present number. It is evident that
ihe majority, if not the whole of our submarine (as contra-
distinguished from littoral or phytophagous) Mollusca
originated in the North, whence they have in the course of
time been transported southwards by the great Arctic
current. Many of them appear to have found their way
into the Mediterranean, or to have left their remains in
the tertiary and quaternary formations of the south of
Italy ; some have even migrated into the Gulf of Mexico,
;is 1 will presently mention.
I cannot see much (if any) difference between the
Mollusca from the warm and cold areas of Dr. Carpenter.
The number of species from the cold area, which also
occurred in the warm area, is forty-four. Other species
from the cold area, and not from the warm area, are eleven.
Of these last, five are undescribed, and one is apparently
sub-fossil and may be a relic of the glacial epoch ; so
that there remain five only which are Arctic and North-
American, but -which were not found in the warm area.
2. Additions to the British Mollusca.—Although I am
aware that the discovery of what are called " new '•'
species does not rank high as a scientific fact, it is still
interesting to all zoologists as well as collectors ; and it
must not be forgotten that the important subject of
zoo-geographical distribution depends in a great measure
on such discoveries, and especially on the relation of any
local fauna to other faunae. The number of species new
to our seas and procured in this expedition is no less than
1 i 7. Of these, fifty-six are new to science, and eight
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
\_Dec. 9, 1869
were supposed to be extinct as tertiary fossils. Sixteen
genera are new to the British seas, including five which
are undescribed. Some of the species and genera, how-
ever, are represented by single specimens, and a few by
fragments. These whet one's appetite instead of satisfy-
ing it. The total number of species of our marine Mol-
lusca, inclusive of littoral species but exclusive of the
Nudibranchs (none of which latter were met with except
in the bays), is 451, according to the latest work on the
subject, ' British Conchology :' so that more than one-
fourth has been added in the course of a few months.
All that I could do by continual dredgings in compara-
tively shallow water during the last sixteen years was to
add about eighty species to the number described by
Forbes and Hanley. I regard the present (although a
large) addition as merely an earnest of future acquisitions.
Almost every square mile of the sea-bed yields different
species, some being apparently local or restricted in their
distribution. In fact the treasury of the deep is inex-
haustible.
3. Relation to North-American Mollusca.—The late
Dr. Gould, in his ' Report on the Invertebrata of Massa-
chusetts' (1841), gave 176 species of marine Mollusca as
inhabiting that coast. Mr. Mighels, Prof. Stimpson, and
others -have since described a few more species, making the
total number about 200. I attifiej leas 6ohaieddnts
of these as British, a dozen being from the present expe-
dition. The size of North-American specimens is, sp
far as I have observed, smaller than that of our speci-
mens of the same species, perhaps showing that their
common origin was in the Arctic seas of Europe and not
of America.
4. Relation to Mediterranean Mollusca.-—In my last
Report on Shetland dredgings, published a short time ago
by the British Association, I discussed this subject so
fully that it is needless to go further into it, except by
calling the attention of the Society and all scientific men,
particularly geologists, to the importance of ascertaining
what has caused or is still causing the remarkable con-
cordance which is observable between the marine Mollusca
in the deeper parts of the North-Atlantic and Medi-
terranean. I cannot help now thinking that this con-
cordance may be explained by the existence of an
undercurrent into the Mediterranean through the Straits
of Gibraltar, being probably a branch of the great Arctic
current. Dredging researches ought to be carried on in
the lower part of the Bay of Biscay, and off the coasts
of Portugal and Spain into the Straits for the purpose of
determining this vexed and highly interesting question.
Dr. Carpenter's last cruise to the west of Shetland, at a
depth of 290 fathoms added a remarkable species to our
Mollusca in Platydia auomioides, a rare Mediterranean
Brachiopod. The specimen is twice the size of those
from the Mediterranean. Octopus Cocco of Verany is
another remarkable discovery, and was dredged0 in 345
and 632 fathoms between latitudes 60° and 62 N. It
was only known as Mediterranean, where it is stated by
Verany to inhabit a depth of 100 metres or nearly 55
fathoms. The dimensions of our largest specimen of
this Caphalopod considerably exceed those given by
Verany. I may here mention that my friend Captain
Spratt, who co-operated with Prof. Edward Forbes in his
/Egean exploration, has most obligingly placed at my
disposal a very small quantity of material which he
dredged in 1846, forty miles east of Malta, at a carefully
ascertained depth of 310 fathoms. It contains among
others the following remarkable species of Mollusca, all
of which were found in the Porcupine expedition, and may
be considered northern forms :—Leda pellucida (Phil.),
Lcda acuminata (Jeffr. M.S.), Dentalium agile (Sars),
Held tenella (Jeffr.), Eulima stenostoma (Jeffr.), Trophon
Barvicensis (Johnst.), Pleurotoma carinata (Biv.), and
Philine quadrata (S. Wood). This shows how imperfect
is our knowledge of the Mediterranean fauna.
Dec. 9, 1869]
5. Relation to Mollusca of the Gulf of Mexico.—I hope
soon, through the kindness of Professor Agassiz, to have
an opportunity of examining and comparing the Mollusca
dredged during the last three summers by Count Pour-
tales in the United States expeditions. The only species
which I have yet seen from the Gulf of Florida are
Waldheimia Floridana and Terebratula Cubensis. The
former appears to be that variety of Terebratula septata
(a Norwegian and now British species), which Professor
Seguenza has described and figured under the name of
Waldheimia Peloritana, from tertiary beds in Sicily; and
the latter is closely allied to Terebratula vitrea (Medi-
terranean), and is perhaps a variety of that polymorphous
species. Not only the external characters, but also the
skeletons or internal processes of these American species
correspond exactly with those of their European relatives,
I must repeat that I am no believer in the doctrine, or
idea of species being "represented" in a geographical
point of view. Species may be identical or allied, but not
" representative."
6. Gulf Stream.—The northern character of the marine
fauna observed during the Porcupine expedition is cer-
tainly at variance with the general notion that this " river
in the ocean," or any branch of it, flows directly to our
coasts; and I have elsewhere * endeavoured to show that
the occurrence in northern latitudes of tropical shells,
seeds, and timber may be accounted for by the surface-drift
arising from the prevalence of westerly winds. But there
is unquestionably a marine as well as an aerial circulation,
Equatorial and Arctic currents as well as Trade winds.
7. Nature of the sea-bed.—In that part of my Report
which contains a narrative of the expedition, so far as I
was engaged in it, I have given some particulars which it is
unnecessary to recapitulate. Some of the pebbles and
gravel from my deepest dredgings (1,215 to 1,476 fathoms)
have been examined by Mr. David Forbes, the eminent
mineralogist; and he has kindly furnished me with the
detailed report which I append to this communication.
Among the pebbles and gravel were several fragments of
true volcanic lava, which throw a considerable light on the
course of the Arctic current along the western coasts of
Ireland. He is of opinion that these volcanic minerals
came from Iceland or Jan Mayen. Mr. Forbes has also,
at my request, carefully and completely analysed a portion
of the Atlantic mud from 1,443 fathoms, the pebbles and
gravel having been previously removed from it by sifting;
and the result shows that its chemical composition differs
greatly from that of ordinary chalk. The sifted mud
contains out of 100 parts 50-12 only of carbonate of lime,
and no less than 2677 of fine unsoluble gritty sand or
(rock debris); while chalk consists almost entirely of car-
bonate of lime, and seldom contains more than from 2 to 4
per cent, of clay, silica, and other foreign material. But I do
not say that tliis single analysis is conclusive. Mr. Forbes's
further report on that head, as well as on a specimen of
Rockall (for which I.am indebted to Staff-Commander
Inskip, who procured it in the Porcupine surveying ex-
pedition of 1862), also accompany this communication.
I may observe that stony ground did not occur during
the present expedition beyond about 550 fathoms, the
sea-bed at greater depths being covered by mud or
what is technically called " ooze." This superstratum
appears to consist chiefly of decomposed animal matter
mixed with the shells of Pteropods and Globigerina, which
must have dropped from the surface of the sea. I have
myself seen living Globigerina in great abundance taken
with Spiriales in the towing net; and Major Owen's
papers in the Journal of the Linnean Society for 1865 and
1866 leave no doubt not only that Globigerina; and other
free Foraminifera live on the surface of the mid-ocean,
but that they have the power, by protruding their pseudo-
podia, of descending a few inches and rising again to the
* "British Conchology," vol. l. Intr. pp. xcviii. and xcix., and Report of
British Association, 1868, p, 236,
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
NA TURE 167
surface. Sessile or fixed Foraminifera, of course, cannot
do this ; but I have found some of these living on the sur-
face and attached to floating sea-weed (Fueus serratus)
at a considerable distance from land. The fresh appear-
ance of the sarcode in Foraminifera taken from great
depths does not of itself prove that they live there, when
we consider the comparatively antiseptic or preservative
property of sea-water as well as the extremely minute
size of the aperture in each cell which contains the sar-
code. Some Foraminifera, however, inhabit only the
bottom of the sea.
8. Bathymetrical conditions.-—So much has been said
of late years (by myself among others) as to the
depths of the sea being not merely inhabited but
replete with life of a highly organised nature, and
as to there being apparently no bathymetrical limit of
habitability, I will content myself with noticing the Mol-
lusca which were dredged in 2,435 fathoms. They
were—(1) Pecten fenestratus, a Mediterranean species ;
(2) Dacrydimn vitreum, Arctic ; (3) Scrobicularia nitida,
Finmark to Sicily; (4) Neara, an undescribed species,
Norwegian ; and (5) Dentalium, a fine species, also un-
described. The first of these species was known to inhabit
depths varying from 40 to 60 fathoms, the second 50 to
300 fathoms, the third 3 to 300 fathoms, and the fourth
50 to 60 fathoms. The Dentalium is an inch and a half
long; and in 1,207 fathoms was taken a new species of
Fusus, living and two inches in length. This last spe-
cies, being one of a zoophagous tribe, must have had for
its food prey of a suitable kind and perhaps of dimen-
sions at least equal to its own. Abysmal life is not
represented merely by microscopic organisms ; and 1
suspect that there is no difference in size between the
animals that live in shallow water and the greatest depths.
Nor do I believe that such abysses are dark or devoid of
light. Colour is assuredly not wanting, nor the usual
organs of sight in the Mollusca and Crustacea. Living
specimens of the Dacrydium from 2,435 fathoms are red-
dish-brown ; and a fine live specimen of Trophon latericeus
from 440 fathoms is bright rosecolour. Dacrydium vitreum
makes a nest (like that of Modiolaria discors and Lima
Mans) consisting of a narrow tubular case twice as long
as itself. This case is lined with a delicate membrane,
and covered with small Foraminifera, particles of sponge,
and coccospheres, which are firmly agglutinated. The
Dacrydium inhabits the broader half, its front or ventral
margin lying in the direction of the opening of the case.
From 2,090 fathoms came a new species of Pleurotoma,
alive, and having a pair of prominent eyes on short stalks ;
and the Fusus from 1,207 fathoms was similarly provided.
In both these genera the eyes are perfect and not rudi-
mentary. The eyes of the Oncopus from 632 fathoms
are remarkably large and more highly organised than
those of many fishes. The animals of this genus crawl
with their arms, head downwards; and the common species
(0. vulgaris) buries itself in sand and gravel. Instances
to prove that colour and visual organs are possessed by
animals at very great depths are innumerable ; and they
would lead us to infer that light (of what nature I can-
not suggest) penetrates the sea to its profoundest base.
None of the deep-sea animals appeared to be phosphores-
cent. Perhaps in the next expedition some photometric
apparatus may be devised in order to solve this problem.
9. Oceanic currents.—The Arctic or Northern current
probably runs with greater rapidity and force in some
places than in others, where the flow seems to be very slow
and feeble. Everywhere (as I pointed out in my Shetland
Report for 1863) the motion must be extremely gentle or
imperceptible at the bottom in deep water, as we find the
most fragile and delicate corallines from stony ground
quite uninjured.
10. Geological considerations.—Not the least interesting
fact derived from this expedition was the discovery, in a
living or recent state, of species hitherto supposed to be-
 i68 NATURE
long exclusively to the tertiary formation and hitherto con-
sidered extinct. Such are Leda excisa of Philippi, and an
undescribed species of the same genus (Calabrian and
Sicilian fossils), Scalaria corrugata of Brocchi (Subapen-
nme),-lOllia ptimila, Neczra jugosa, and Cerithium grano-
sum, all of S. Wood (Coralline Crag), and an undescribed
species of Fusus, which I propose to name Sarsi, lately
found in the Red Crag. Mr. Wood is inclined to refer this
last species to F. Spitzbergensis of Reeve ; I regret that
I cannot agree with him in such determination. Our
Coralline and Red Crag beds notoriously contain a large
proportion of northern species; and I was not far wrong
in regarding the former as the "cradle" of the British
Mollusca. I may here remark that, as in Shetland,
valves and fragments of Pecten Islandicus, Tellina cal-
caria, and Mya truncata var. Uddevallensis (all Arctic
species) were dredged in rather deep water, on the western
coasts of Ireland ; and a perfect specimen of Leda arctica
was found in Loch Torridon. These shells are appa-
rently in a semi-fossil condition ; but it is impossible to
say whether they are quaternary or recent.
As regards marine zoology, this expedition has produced
results more important than those which have ever been
obtained in any previous expedition of the kind by the
enterprise of our own or any other nation ; and I cannot
help expressing a fervent wish that it may be renewed
next year. The United States, France, Sweden, and
Norway are prosecuting with great success this line of
scientific research ; and I feel confident that Great Britain,
with her vast wealth, naval resources, intelligence, energy,
and perseverance, will keep the lead which she has now
taken.
As one of the naturalists who were privileged to assist
in the late expedition I shall be happy again to place my
humble services at the disposal of the Royal Society in
continuation of the work, especially in conjunction with
Dr. Carpenter and Prof. Wyville Thomson.
J. GWYN JEFFREYS
*jf* At the Meeting of the Royal Society at which
the observations described in the above paper were com-
municated, Professor Alexander Agassiz gave an account of
the principal results arrived at by the American Dredging
Expedition. The ground explored was limited to a length
of about 120 miles by 60 to 90 miles in width between the
Florida Keys and the Northern Coast of Cuba, and
although the depth reached was by no means as great
as that attained by the last British expedition, not being
much more than one-third of it, about 820 fathoms, yet the
results were fully as striking, and agree in the main points
with the conclusions arrived at by the English explorers.
Commencing with the sponges, which contained a great
number of siliceous forms, he gave as the results of the
examination of Dr. Oscar Schmidt, of Graatz, the specific
identity of the majority of the species with Mediterranean,
Azoric, and Atlantic species, showing a geographical range
quite unprecedented, and extending the Atlantic fauna from
the Gulf of Mexico to the Bermudas, the Azores, the Medi-
terranean, the Western Coasts of Europe, and extending
far north to the boreal regions of Norway, Iceland, and
Greenland. These same results would apply, as far as the
collections have been examined, to the Echinoderms,
Mollusca, and Crustacea, though the number of identical
species in these branches over this extensive Atlantic area
is much smaller. Among the Echinoderms, the Echini
specially showed several new and interesting forms, re-
calling types characteristic of the cretaceous period ; one
genus especially, the genus Salenia, is represented in our
seas by a most interesting species. Another cretaceous
type, a new genus of Spatangida (Pourtalesia) was found
in deep water in Florida, and like the Crinoid genus
Rhizocrinus, was also dredged by the Porcupine expe-
dition. Several other species of Echinoderms were also
shown to be identical on both sides of the Atlantic.
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
[Dec. 9, 1869
Prof. A. Agassiz gave besides an instance of one of these
so-called cretaceous generic types, which was only the
young stage of a well-known genus represented from the
time of the chalk through the tertiaries, and which is now
found living in the tropical seas, showing how careful we
ought to be in our generalisations when drawn from a
class where the transformations from the young stages to
the adult are as great as they are in Echinoderms. He
gave as an example of this the case of two species of
Echini, one of which is known under one generic name
{Stolonodypeus), as the adult, in Florida, while the young
is known under a different generic name {Echinocyamus)
in Europe, and endeavoured to explain by the action of
the currents the migration of the pelagic embryos, many
of which remain in a helpless condition for several months,
and thus to show how changes of currents, brought about
by the elevation or subsidence of portions of continents,
would fully account for the present limitation of marine
faunas. The presence of corals at great depths will
also materially alter the views generally received of the
depth at which reef-builders may work, and modify to a
certain extent Darwin's theory of the reefs, and their mode
of growth. Prof. A. Agassiz alluded to the probable con-
tinuation of the exploration of the Gulf Stream by Prof.
Pierce, the superintendent of the W. S. Coast Survey,
who was carrying out the plans laid out by his pre-
decessor, Professor Bache ; and trusted that the Coast
Survey would carry on the investigations so successfully
inaugurated, thanks to the enlightened views of Professor
Pierce, and the executive ability of the assistant in charge,
Count Pourtales. This exploration would consist of a
series of normals to the coast of the United States, ex-
tending from Georgia to New York, completely across the
Gulf Stream, thus extending sufficiently far north to meet
upon a common ground the English expedition, which the
British Government could not fail to send in consequence
of the brilliant results of the two previous years.
SCHOLARSHIPS AND EXHIBITIONS FOR
NATURAL SCIENCE IN CAMBRIDGE
" T H E following is a list of the scholarships and
•*- exhibitions for proficiency in natural science,
which are likely to be offered in Cambridge during the
ensuing year.
Trinity College.~One of the value of about ,£80 per
annum. The examination (in chemistry, physics, physical
geology, including meteorology and the elements of
mineralogy) will . be in Easter week, and will be
open to all undergraduates of Cambridge and Oxford.
Further information may be obtained from the Rev. E.
Blore, tutor of Trinity College.
St. John's College.—One of the value oi £s° per annum.
The examination (in chemistry, physics and physiology,
with geology, anatomy, and botany) will be on 29th and
30th of April, and will be open to all persons who are not
entered at the University, as well as to all who have entered
and have not completed one term of residence. In this
College, moreover, natural science now is made one of
the subjects of the regular college examination of its
students at the end of the academical year (in May) ; and
exhibitions and foundation scholarships will in conse-
quence be awarded to students who show an amount of
knowledge equivalent to that which in classics or mathe-
matics usually gains an exhibition scholarship in the
College. In short, natural science is on the same footing
as classics and mathematics, both as regards teaching
and rewards.
Christ's College.—One to four, and in value from 30/.
to 70/., according to the number and merits of the
candidates, tenable for three and a half years, and three
years longer by those who reside during that period at the
College. The examination will be in April, 1870, and will
be open to the undergraduates of Christ's College; to non-
 i68 NATURE
long exclusively to the tertiary formation and hitherto con-
sidered extinct. Such are Leda excisa of Philippi, and an
undescribed species of the same genus (Calabrian and
Sicilian fossils), Scalaria corrugata of Brocchi (Subapen-
nme),-lOllia ptimila, Neczra jugosa, and Cerithium grano-
sum, all of S. Wood (Coralline Crag), and an undescribed
species of Fusus, which I propose to name Sarsi, lately
found in the Red Crag. Mr. Wood is inclined to refer this
last species to F. Spitzbergensis of Reeve ; I regret that
I cannot agree with him in such determination. Our
Coralline and Red Crag beds notoriously contain a large
proportion of northern species; and I was not far wrong
in regarding the former as the "cradle" of the British
Mollusca. I may here remark that, as in Shetland,
valves and fragments of Pecten Islandicus, Tellina cal-
caria, and Mya truncata var. Uddevallensis (all Arctic
species) were dredged in rather deep water, on the western
coasts of Ireland ; and a perfect specimen of Leda arctica
was found in Loch Torridon. These shells are appa-
rently in a semi-fossil condition ; but it is impossible to
say whether they are quaternary or recent.
As regards marine zoology, this expedition has produced
results more important than those which have ever been
obtained in any previous expedition of the kind by the
enterprise of our own or any other nation ; and I cannot
help expressing a fervent wish that it may be renewed
next year. The United States, France, Sweden, and
Norway are prosecuting with great success this line of
scientific research ; and I feel confident that Great Britain,
with her vast wealth, naval resources, intelligence, energy,
and perseverance, will keep the lead which she has now
taken.
As one of the naturalists who were privileged to assist
in the late expedition I shall be happy again to place my
humble services at the disposal of the Royal Society in
continuation of the work, especially in conjunction with
Dr. Carpenter and Prof. Wyville Thomson.
J. GWYN JEFFREYS
*jf* At the Meeting of the Royal Society at which
the observations described in the above paper were com-
municated, Professor Alexander Agassiz gave an account of
the principal results arrived at by the American Dredging
Expedition. The ground explored was limited to a length
of about 120 miles by 60 to 90 miles in width between the
Florida Keys and the Northern Coast of Cuba, and
although the depth reached was by no means as great
as that attained by the last British expedition, not being
much more than one-third of it, about 820 fathoms, yet the
results were fully as striking, and agree in the main points
with the conclusions arrived at by the English explorers.
Commencing with the sponges, which contained a great
number of siliceous forms, he gave as the results of the
examination of Dr. Oscar Schmidt, of Graatz, the specific
identity of the majority of the species with Mediterranean,
Azoric, and Atlantic species, showing a geographical range
quite unprecedented, and extending the Atlantic fauna from
the Gulf of Mexico to the Bermudas, the Azores, the Medi-
terranean, the Western Coasts of Europe, and extending
far north to the boreal regions of Norway, Iceland, and
Greenland. These same results would apply, as far as the
collections have been examined, to the Echinoderms,
Mollusca, and Crustacea, though the number of identical
species in these branches over this extensive Atlantic area
is much smaller. Among the Echinoderms, the Echini
specially showed several new and interesting forms, re-
calling types characteristic of the cretaceous period ; one
genus especially, the genus Salenia, is represented in our
seas by a most interesting species. Another cretaceous
type, a new genus of Spatangida (Pourtalesia) was found
in deep water in Florida, and like the Crinoid genus
Rhizocrinus, was also dredged by the Porcupine expe-
dition. Several other species of Echinoderms were also
shown to be identical on both sides of the Atlantic.
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
[Dec. 9, 1869
Prof. A. Agassiz gave besides an instance of one of these
so-called cretaceous generic types, which was only the
young stage of a well-known genus represented from the
time of the chalk through the tertiaries, and which is now
found living in the tropical seas, showing how careful we
ought to be in our generalisations when drawn from a
class where the transformations from the young stages to
the adult are as great as they are in Echinoderms. He
gave as an example of this the case of two species of
Echini, one of which is known under one generic name
{Stolonodypeus), as the adult, in Florida, while the young
is known under a different generic name {Echinocyamus)
in Europe, and endeavoured to explain by the action of
the currents the migration of the pelagic embryos, many
of which remain in a helpless condition for several months,
and thus to show how changes of currents, brought about
by the elevation or subsidence of portions of continents,
would fully account for the present limitation of marine
faunas. The presence of corals at great depths will
also materially alter the views generally received of the
depth at which reef-builders may work, and modify to a
certain extent Darwin's theory of the reefs, and their mode
of growth. Prof. A. Agassiz alluded to the probable con-
tinuation of the exploration of the Gulf Stream by Prof.
Pierce, the superintendent of the W. S. Coast Survey,
who was carrying out the plans laid out by his pre-
decessor, Professor Bache ; and trusted that the Coast
Survey would carry on the investigations so successfully
inaugurated, thanks to the enlightened views of Professor
Pierce, and the executive ability of the assistant in charge,
Count Pourtales. This exploration would consist of a
series of normals to the coast of the United States, ex-
tending from Georgia to New York, completely across the
Gulf Stream, thus extending sufficiently far north to meet
upon a common ground the English expedition, which the
British Government could not fail to send in consequence
of the brilliant results of the two previous years.
SCHOLARSHIPS AND EXHIBITIONS FOR
NATURAL SCIENCE IN CAMBRIDGE
" T H E following is a list of the scholarships and
•*- exhibitions for proficiency in natural science,
which are likely to be offered in Cambridge during the
ensuing year.
Trinity College.~One of the value of about ,£80 per
annum. The examination (in chemistry, physics, physical
geology, including meteorology and the elements of
mineralogy) will . be in Easter week, and will be
open to all undergraduates of Cambridge and Oxford.
Further information may be obtained from the Rev. E.
Blore, tutor of Trinity College.
St. John's College.—One of the value oi £s° per annum.
The examination (in chemistry, physics and physiology,
with geology, anatomy, and botany) will be on 29th and
30th of April, and will be open to all persons who are not
entered at the University, as well as to all who have entered
and have not completed one term of residence. In this
College, moreover, natural science now is made one of
the subjects of the regular college examination of its
students at the end of the academical year (in May) ; and
exhibitions and foundation scholarships will in conse-
quence be awarded to students who show an amount of
knowledge equivalent to that which in classics or mathe-
matics usually gains an exhibition scholarship in the
College. In short, natural science is on the same footing
as classics and mathematics, both as regards teaching
and rewards.
Christ's College.—One to four, and in value from 30/.
to 70/., according to the number and merits of the
candidates, tenable for three and a half years, and three
years longer by those who reside during that period at the
College. The examination will be in April, 1870, and will
be open to the undergraduates of Christ's College; to non-
Dec. 9, 1869] NA TURE
collegiate undergraduates of Oxford; to all undergraduates
of Oxford ; and any students who are not members of
either University. T h e candidates may select their own
subjects for examination. Besides these there are three
other exhibitions perfectly open, which are distributed
annually among the most deserving students of the College.
Clare College.—One of the value of 50/. per annum,
The examination (in chemistry, chemical physics, com-
parative anatomy, physiology, and geology) will be on
March 30th, and will be open to students intending to
begin residence in October. T h e candidates must show
such acquaintance with classics and mathematics as will
qualify them to pass the previous examination.
St. Peter's College.—One of the value of 60/. per annum.
The examination (in chemistry, botany, comparative
anatomy and physiology) will be in June, and will be open
to all students who are not members of the University, or
who have not commenced residence in the University.
Downing College.—One or more, according to the merits
of the candidates, of the value of dpi. per annum. T h e
examination (in chemistry, comparative anatomy, and
physiology) will be in March, and will be open to all
students not members of the University, as well as to all
undergraduates in their first term.
Sidney College.—Two of the value of 40/. per annum.
The examination fin heat, electricity, chemistry, geology,
physiology, botany) will be in October, and will be open
to all students who may enter on the college boards before
October 1st.
Although several subjects for examination are in each
instance given, this is rather to afford the option of one or
more to the candidates than to induce them to present a
superficial knowledge of several. Indeed, it is expressly
stated by some of the colleges that good clear knowledge
of one or two subjects will be more esteemed than a
general knowledge of several.
Candidates, especially those who are not members of
the University, will in most instances be required to show
a fair knowledge of classics and mathematics; such, for
example, as would enable them to pass their previous
examination.
There is no restriction on the ground of religious
denomination in the case of these or any of the scholar-
ships or exhibitions in the university or the college.
Further necessary information may be obtained from
the tutors of the respective colleges.
It may be added that Trinity College will give a fellow-
ship for natural science once, at least, in three years, and
that most of the colleges are understood to be willing to
award fellowships for merit in natural science equivalent
to that for which they are in the habit of giving them for
classics and mathematics.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[The Editor does not hold himself responsiblefor opinions expressed
by his Correspondents.}
Mental Progress of Animals
I HAVE failed to meet with a satisfactory treatment of this
subject either in works of mental philosophy or natural history,
Sir John Lubbock, in "Prehistoric Times," refers to the like-
lihood of the sagacity of man and the wariness of animals pro-
ceeding pan passu; but he does not develop the idea or aid it by
illustration, and I find that the tradition still widely prevails that
the instinct and intelligence of animals is a thing fixed and un-
changeable ; and that the mammals which roamed over the world
during the earlier and middle tertiary epoch must be credited with
the same amount of sagacity as their representatives of the present
day. Such statements are assumptions opposed to the current of
any facts we possess on the subject. Much of what has been termed
cunning in animals will be found to have been very much
sharpened and made evident in quadrupeds and birds, owing to
the new necessities imposed upon them by man the tamer or
man the destroyer.
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
169
For it is under one of these two characters that man approaches
animals, affecting them in the most complex and vivid manner.
No bird or quadruped so high in the mental scale as the dog,
horse, rat, rook, or sparrow, has been found in the lonely
oceanic isles or in any region free, or all but free, from human
influence; not because in these quarters such animals could not
exist, but rather it would seem because the aboriginal fauna had
no opportunity for the improvement of its wits by coming in
contact with an enemy or friend so complex, dreadful, and
ingenious as a human being.
One of the first impulses communicated to the wits of the
wild animals is that derived from the sense of new wants. Now,
this is what man supplies by his cultivated fruits and cereals. A
feast is spread before quadrupeds and birds more generous than
that of nature. But this banquet is guarded, and often becomes
a baited trap in which the simple thief is caught; but a very
slight increment of sagacity is sometimes enough to turn the
scale, and this quickness of wit, especially in the first ages of
society, as among existing savages, would be slowly met by
improvement of trap. Necessity—on either side the mother of
invention—would at last permit only wary vigilant enemies,
since these alone could succeed, to hang round the skirts of
kraals and wigwams, approach in twilight the crops near stockaded
villages, prowl about places of interment, lodge in sewers, enter
cellars; and, keenly alive.to every sign of danger, multiply in
spite of poison, trap, and gun, and in defiance of trained animals
of their own and allied species, and that division of labour
which gives us special hunters.
The fear of man is a slowly acquired instinct. Mr. Darwin,
in his account of his travels, gives some interesting instances of
the fearlessness of birds little exposed to man in South America.
The crew of Byron's vessel were astonished at the manner in
which the wolf-like dog of the Falkland Islands approached
them merely out of curiosity. Compare these traits with the
admirably organised expeditions for plunder of baboons, elephants,
&c., and the rude customs acted upon for self-preservation of the
half-wild dogs of the Peninsula and the East, wherein the care
of the weak and young, the usefulness of sentries, the value of
signals, the difference between sham and real danger, and the
advantage of confusing traces of retreat, seem all to be known,
and it will be pretty evident that man the thinker has to a con-
siderable extent reacted on animals wild and domestic. Even
in my own quarter it is the steady belief of the shepherds that
the common sheep-dog has progressed in intelligence and docility
within the last fifty years by careful selection. " Where the dog
is not valued for intelligence, as in some Eastern countries, it is a
much more stupid animal than with us."
Now were we in vision to behold that wonderful Miocene age,
when the great mammals roamed over Europe unpeopled as yst
by man, I am convinced that both they and the birds of the
period would be less interesting and more monotonous in their
habits than those which people Europe at the present day, and
have for ages been engaged in a struggle for existence with a
being so much superior to themselves; and that in prehuman
times the horn, hoof, tooth, and coat of mail, to a far greater
extent than now, ensured victories which other and more subtle
agencies are now necessary to secure on the part of those animals
nearest to man in organisation and habits.
Nov. 21 J. S.
The Suez Canal
I NOTICE in your number of 4th inst. an article relating to
the Suez Canal (by Mr. Login, C. E., late of the Ganges Canal),
and shall be glad if you will allow me to make a few observa-
tions with reference to it.
In making his suggestions, Mr. Login appears to have over-
looked the fact that there is already a sweet-water canal connect-
ing the Nile with the centre of the isthmus, and passing through
the Wadi Toumilat, which it has watered and fertilised; and,
further, that it is proposed, when the actual work of excavation
in the maritime canal is completed, to commence irrigating
operations on a large scale by means of this canal.
As to diverting the Nile, or one of its mouths, and thereby
forming the great maritime canal, that is quite another affair.
In the first place, if I remember rightly, the water in the present
sweet-Water canal, where it meets the great canal, is some
twelve feet above the level of the latter—in other words, above
the level of the sea. Does Mr. Login think, then, that to carry
the water at this level for 50 or 60 miles across and above the
shallow lakes of Menzaleh and Ballah and the plain of Suez
Dec. 9, 1869] NA TURE
collegiate undergraduates of Oxford; to all undergraduates
of Oxford ; and any students who are not members of
either University. T h e candidates may select their own
subjects for examination. Besides these there are three
other exhibitions perfectly open, which are distributed
annually among the most deserving students of the College.
Clare College.—One of the value of 50/. per annum,
The examination (in chemistry, chemical physics, com-
parative anatomy, physiology, and geology) will be on
March 30th, and will be open to students intending to
begin residence in October. T h e candidates must show
such acquaintance with classics and mathematics as will
qualify them to pass the previous examination.
St. Peter's College.—One of the value of 60/. per annum.
The examination (in chemistry, botany, comparative
anatomy and physiology) will be in June, and will be open
to all students who are not members of the University, or
who have not commenced residence in the University.
Downing College.—One or more, according to the merits
of the candidates, of the value of dpi. per annum. T h e
examination (in chemistry, comparative anatomy, and
physiology) will be in March, and will be open to all
students not members of the University, as well as to all
undergraduates in their first term.
Sidney College.—Two of the value of 40/. per annum.
The examination fin heat, electricity, chemistry, geology,
physiology, botany) will be in October, and will be open
to all students who may enter on the college boards before
October 1st.
Although several subjects for examination are in each
instance given, this is rather to afford the option of one or
more to the candidates than to induce them to present a
superficial knowledge of several. Indeed, it is expressly
stated by some of the colleges that good clear knowledge
of one or two subjects will be more esteemed than a
general knowledge of several.
Candidates, especially those who are not members of
the University, will in most instances be required to show
a fair knowledge of classics and mathematics; such, for
example, as would enable them to pass their previous
examination.
There is no restriction on the ground of religious
denomination in the case of these or any of the scholar-
ships or exhibitions in the university or the college.
Further necessary information may be obtained from
the tutors of the respective colleges.
It may be added that Trinity College will give a fellow-
ship for natural science once, at least, in three years, and
that most of the colleges are understood to be willing to
award fellowships for merit in natural science equivalent
to that for which they are in the habit of giving them for
classics and mathematics.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[The Editor does not hold himself responsiblefor opinions expressed
by his Correspondents.}
Mental Progress of Animals
I HAVE failed to meet with a satisfactory treatment of this
subject either in works of mental philosophy or natural history,
Sir John Lubbock, in "Prehistoric Times," refers to the like-
lihood of the sagacity of man and the wariness of animals pro-
ceeding pan passu; but he does not develop the idea or aid it by
illustration, and I find that the tradition still widely prevails that
the instinct and intelligence of animals is a thing fixed and un-
changeable ; and that the mammals which roamed over the world
during the earlier and middle tertiary epoch must be credited with
the same amount of sagacity as their representatives of the present
day. Such statements are assumptions opposed to the current of
any facts we possess on the subject. Much of what has been termed
cunning in animals will be found to have been very much
sharpened and made evident in quadrupeds and birds, owing to
the new necessities imposed upon them by man the tamer or
man the destroyer.
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
169
For it is under one of these two characters that man approaches
animals, affecting them in the most complex and vivid manner.
No bird or quadruped so high in the mental scale as the dog,
horse, rat, rook, or sparrow, has been found in the lonely
oceanic isles or in any region free, or all but free, from human
influence; not because in these quarters such animals could not
exist, but rather it would seem because the aboriginal fauna had
no opportunity for the improvement of its wits by coming in
contact with an enemy or friend so complex, dreadful, and
ingenious as a human being.
One of the first impulses communicated to the wits of the
wild animals is that derived from the sense of new wants. Now,
this is what man supplies by his cultivated fruits and cereals. A
feast is spread before quadrupeds and birds more generous than
that of nature. But this banquet is guarded, and often becomes
a baited trap in which the simple thief is caught; but a very
slight increment of sagacity is sometimes enough to turn the
scale, and this quickness of wit, especially in the first ages of
society, as among existing savages, would be slowly met by
improvement of trap. Necessity—on either side the mother of
invention—would at last permit only wary vigilant enemies,
since these alone could succeed, to hang round the skirts of
kraals and wigwams, approach in twilight the crops near stockaded
villages, prowl about places of interment, lodge in sewers, enter
cellars; and, keenly alive.to every sign of danger, multiply in
spite of poison, trap, and gun, and in defiance of trained animals
of their own and allied species, and that division of labour
which gives us special hunters.
The fear of man is a slowly acquired instinct. Mr. Darwin,
in his account of his travels, gives some interesting instances of
the fearlessness of birds little exposed to man in South America.
The crew of Byron's vessel were astonished at the manner in
which the wolf-like dog of the Falkland Islands approached
them merely out of curiosity. Compare these traits with the
admirably organised expeditions for plunder of baboons, elephants,
&c., and the rude customs acted upon for self-preservation of the
half-wild dogs of the Peninsula and the East, wherein the care
of the weak and young, the usefulness of sentries, the value of
signals, the difference between sham and real danger, and the
advantage of confusing traces of retreat, seem all to be known,
and it will be pretty evident that man the thinker has to a con-
siderable extent reacted on animals wild and domestic. Even
in my own quarter it is the steady belief of the shepherds that
the common sheep-dog has progressed in intelligence and docility
within the last fifty years by careful selection. " Where the dog
is not valued for intelligence, as in some Eastern countries, it is a
much more stupid animal than with us."
Now were we in vision to behold that wonderful Miocene age,
when the great mammals roamed over Europe unpeopled as yst
by man, I am convinced that both they and the birds of the
period would be less interesting and more monotonous in their
habits than those which people Europe at the present day, and
have for ages been engaged in a struggle for existence with a
being so much superior to themselves; and that in prehuman
times the horn, hoof, tooth, and coat of mail, to a far greater
extent than now, ensured victories which other and more subtle
agencies are now necessary to secure on the part of those animals
nearest to man in organisation and habits.
Nov. 21 J. S.
The Suez Canal
I NOTICE in your number of 4th inst. an article relating to
the Suez Canal (by Mr. Login, C. E., late of the Ganges Canal),
and shall be glad if you will allow me to make a few observa-
tions with reference to it.
In making his suggestions, Mr. Login appears to have over-
looked the fact that there is already a sweet-water canal connect-
ing the Nile with the centre of the isthmus, and passing through
the Wadi Toumilat, which it has watered and fertilised; and,
further, that it is proposed, when the actual work of excavation
in the maritime canal is completed, to commence irrigating
operations on a large scale by means of this canal.
As to diverting the Nile, or one of its mouths, and thereby
forming the great maritime canal, that is quite another affair.
In the first place, if I remember rightly, the water in the present
sweet-Water canal, where it meets the great canal, is some
twelve feet above the level of the latter—in other words, above
the level of the sea. Does Mr. Login think, then, that to carry
the water at this level for 50 or 60 miles across and above the
shallow lakes of Menzaleh and Ballah and the plain of Suez
Dec. 9, 1869] NA TURE
collegiate undergraduates of Oxford; to all undergraduates
of Oxford ; and any students who are not members of
either University. T h e candidates may select their own
subjects for examination. Besides these there are three
other exhibitions perfectly open, which are distributed
annually among the most deserving students of the College.
Clare College.—One of the value of 50/. per annum,
The examination (in chemistry, chemical physics, com-
parative anatomy, physiology, and geology) will be on
March 30th, and will be open to students intending to
begin residence in October. T h e candidates must show
such acquaintance with classics and mathematics as will
qualify them to pass the previous examination.
St. Peter's College.—One of the value of 60/. per annum.
The examination (in chemistry, botany, comparative
anatomy and physiology) will be in June, and will be open
to all students who are not members of the University, or
who have not commenced residence in the University.
Downing College.—One or more, according to the merits
of the candidates, of the value of dpi. per annum. T h e
examination (in chemistry, comparative anatomy, and
physiology) will be in March, and will be open to all
students not members of the University, as well as to all
undergraduates in their first term.
Sidney College.—Two of the value of 40/. per annum.
The examination fin heat, electricity, chemistry, geology,
physiology, botany) will be in October, and will be open
to all students who may enter on the college boards before
October 1st.
Although several subjects for examination are in each
instance given, this is rather to afford the option of one or
more to the candidates than to induce them to present a
superficial knowledge of several. Indeed, it is expressly
stated by some of the colleges that good clear knowledge
of one or two subjects will be more esteemed than a
general knowledge of several.
Candidates, especially those who are not members of
the University, will in most instances be required to show
a fair knowledge of classics and mathematics; such, for
example, as would enable them to pass their previous
examination.
There is no restriction on the ground of religious
denomination in the case of these or any of the scholar-
ships or exhibitions in the university or the college.
Further necessary information may be obtained from
the tutors of the respective colleges.
It may be added that Trinity College will give a fellow-
ship for natural science once, at least, in three years, and
that most of the colleges are understood to be willing to
award fellowships for merit in natural science equivalent
to that for which they are in the habit of giving them for
classics and mathematics.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[The Editor does not hold himself responsiblefor opinions expressed
by his Correspondents.}
Mental Progress of Animals
I HAVE failed to meet with a satisfactory treatment of this
subject either in works of mental philosophy or natural history,
Sir John Lubbock, in "Prehistoric Times," refers to the like-
lihood of the sagacity of man and the wariness of animals pro-
ceeding pan passu; but he does not develop the idea or aid it by
illustration, and I find that the tradition still widely prevails that
the instinct and intelligence of animals is a thing fixed and un-
changeable ; and that the mammals which roamed over the world
during the earlier and middle tertiary epoch must be credited with
the same amount of sagacity as their representatives of the present
day. Such statements are assumptions opposed to the current of
any facts we possess on the subject. Much of what has been termed
cunning in animals will be found to have been very much
sharpened and made evident in quadrupeds and birds, owing to
the new necessities imposed upon them by man the tamer or
man the destroyer.
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
169
For it is under one of these two characters that man approaches
animals, affecting them in the most complex and vivid manner.
No bird or quadruped so high in the mental scale as the dog,
horse, rat, rook, or sparrow, has been found in the lonely
oceanic isles or in any region free, or all but free, from human
influence; not because in these quarters such animals could not
exist, but rather it would seem because the aboriginal fauna had
no opportunity for the improvement of its wits by coming in
contact with an enemy or friend so complex, dreadful, and
ingenious as a human being.
One of the first impulses communicated to the wits of the
wild animals is that derived from the sense of new wants. Now,
this is what man supplies by his cultivated fruits and cereals. A
feast is spread before quadrupeds and birds more generous than
that of nature. But this banquet is guarded, and often becomes
a baited trap in which the simple thief is caught; but a very
slight increment of sagacity is sometimes enough to turn the
scale, and this quickness of wit, especially in the first ages of
society, as among existing savages, would be slowly met by
improvement of trap. Necessity—on either side the mother of
invention—would at last permit only wary vigilant enemies,
since these alone could succeed, to hang round the skirts of
kraals and wigwams, approach in twilight the crops near stockaded
villages, prowl about places of interment, lodge in sewers, enter
cellars; and, keenly alive.to every sign of danger, multiply in
spite of poison, trap, and gun, and in defiance of trained animals
of their own and allied species, and that division of labour
which gives us special hunters.
The fear of man is a slowly acquired instinct. Mr. Darwin,
in his account of his travels, gives some interesting instances of
the fearlessness of birds little exposed to man in South America.
The crew of Byron's vessel were astonished at the manner in
which the wolf-like dog of the Falkland Islands approached
them merely out of curiosity. Compare these traits with the
admirably organised expeditions for plunder of baboons, elephants,
&c., and the rude customs acted upon for self-preservation of the
half-wild dogs of the Peninsula and the East, wherein the care
of the weak and young, the usefulness of sentries, the value of
signals, the difference between sham and real danger, and the
advantage of confusing traces of retreat, seem all to be known,
and it will be pretty evident that man the thinker has to a con-
siderable extent reacted on animals wild and domestic. Even
in my own quarter it is the steady belief of the shepherds that
the common sheep-dog has progressed in intelligence and docility
within the last fifty years by careful selection. " Where the dog
is not valued for intelligence, as in some Eastern countries, it is a
much more stupid animal than with us."
Now were we in vision to behold that wonderful Miocene age,
when the great mammals roamed over Europe unpeopled as yst
by man, I am convinced that both they and the birds of the
period would be less interesting and more monotonous in their
habits than those which people Europe at the present day, and
have for ages been engaged in a struggle for existence with a
being so much superior to themselves; and that in prehuman
times the horn, hoof, tooth, and coat of mail, to a far greater
extent than now, ensured victories which other and more subtle
agencies are now necessary to secure on the part of those animals
nearest to man in organisation and habits.
Nov. 21 J. S.
The Suez Canal
I NOTICE in your number of 4th inst. an article relating to
the Suez Canal (by Mr. Login, C. E., late of the Ganges Canal),
and shall be glad if you will allow me to make a few observa-
tions with reference to it.
In making his suggestions, Mr. Login appears to have over-
looked the fact that there is already a sweet-water canal connect-
ing the Nile with the centre of the isthmus, and passing through
the Wadi Toumilat, which it has watered and fertilised; and,
further, that it is proposed, when the actual work of excavation
in the maritime canal is completed, to commence irrigating
operations on a large scale by means of this canal.
As to diverting the Nile, or one of its mouths, and thereby
forming the great maritime canal, that is quite another affair.
In the first place, if I remember rightly, the water in the present
sweet-Water canal, where it meets the great canal, is some
twelve feet above the level of the latter—in other words, above
the level of the sea. Does Mr. Login think, then, that to carry
the water at this level for 50 or 60 miles across and above the
shallow lakes of Menzaleh and Ballah and the plain of Suez
 170 NATURE [Dec. 9, 1869
would have required less excavation than the actual scheme ? In I hope that your correspondent " M . " and others who feel as
the second place, as Mr. Login says, there would be locks at she does, may see this letter and will understand how difficult it
either end of the canal, which would be not only costly, but most is at the outset to satisfy so many conflicting requirements at
inconvenient for ships in their passage. In the third place I once.
doubt very much whether the whole stream of the eastern branch The course of lectures on Greek History and Literature
of the Nile would suffice to keep the canal and the great Bitter which Mr. W. R. Kennedy is now giving on Saturdays at the
Lakes full. Some time ago, indeed, it was disputed whether the South Kensington Museum is very thinly attended, which.is
Mediterranean and the Red Sea together, pouring into the Bitter exceedingly discouraging, especially as particular pains have
Lakes, would raise them to the level of the sea, owing to the been taken to make these lectures strictly educational, by means
influences of absorption and evaporation. The facts, however, of questions set to be worked at by the students at home.
proved to the contrary. Brompton, Nov. 30 M. A. B,
.Still, Mr. Login is much more ambitious. With a single
stream (that is to say, taking the eastern branch of the Nile at T h e American Eclipse
Damietta), less in volume than the present maritime canal, he DR. MORTON, Professor of Chemistry in the University of
proposes riot only filling the Bitter Lakes to the level of the sea, Pennsylvania, has kindly forwarded me photographs of the
but raising them to a level of at least twelve feet beyond it phenomena of totality. By combining in the stereoscope pairs
(thereby nearly doubling their present volume). Lastly, if the of these, separated by intervals of about half-a-minute of time,
canal and Bitter Lakes could be filled sufficiently by the Nile the black globe of the moon appears projected far in front of the
spring the dry season, it would be overflowing during the floods, luminous prominences and the corona, which are, therefore,
and if it could be filled only in the season of the floods, in the clearly seen to belong to the sun. Glass transparencies from
dry season it would be nearly empty. negatives specially selected for this purpose, and appropriately
As to the question of breakwaters at the Mediterranean end, mounted, would show these phenomena in a very striking maimer.
Mr. Login rightly says that the annual deposit along the coast is W I L L I A M CROOKES
hardly perceptible. I cannot see, therefore, what improvement
the breakwaters he suggests would be upon the present ones,
seeing that the easterly current ncrm passes the extremity of the NOTES
west pier with a speed of two or three miles an hour. He there- TO-NIGHT the physicists take their turn at the Royal Society,
fore not only proposes sending a current of at least five miles an and the physical constitution of the sun will form one of the
hour for a considerable distance up the canal (as his plan infallibly
must)—rendering it in strong prevailing winds almost impossible subjects dealt with.
to get out from between his breakwaters—but also sacrificing a W E believe that the communication to be read at the Royal
splendid harbour of 55° acres in extent. Geographical Society on Monday will be one of great interest.
I quite agree with Mr. Login in thinking that the Suez Canal A PERIODICAL, after the model of the popular Annates des
will not only outlive all abuse, but become one of the greatest
blessings to the civilised world. Sciences Naturelles, will be commenced in Paris at the beginning
Birkenhead, Nov. II EDW. RAE of the year. It is to be named the Annates des Sciences Geolo-
giqaes. We are promised an important and fully illustrated
The Poles of Mars memoir on the Geology of Palestine, by M. Lartet. The
PERMIT me through your columns to inquire whether any editors of the new journal will be M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards
experiments have been made, by polarisation, to test the state- for the PaUeontological, and M. Hebert for the Geological
ment that the light from the brilliant spots round the poles of
Mars is reflected? departments.
If nothing has yet been done, will some correspondent decide T H E Swedish Academy of Sciences has just issued, under the
the point? G. W. title " Lefnadsteckningar ofver Kongl. Svenska Vetenshaps
Nov. 25 Akademicus efter Ar 1854 aflidna Ledamoter," the first number
Lectures to Ladies of a series of biographical notices of those of its members who
IN the fourth number of NATURE there is a letter signed " M." have died since the year 1854. In the absence of the preface,
on this subject, in which it is asserted that nearly all the women which is deferred until the publication of the second number, we
who most wish to attend these lectures, and who would most
benefit by doing so, "are practically shut out from those at are unable to say whether all the members of the Academy are
South Kensington and at University College, because none of the thought worthy a special biography, or only its most distinguished
lectures are given in the evening." Your correspondent gives members. However this may be, we fear that very few of the
South Kensington credit for saying something about " persons twenty men, whose lives are recorded in this first number, are
engaged in tuition," but she adds that it is a mere mockery, as known to fame beyond the limits of their native land, notwith-
this very fact prevents their getting out in the daytime.
standing that most of them have left behind them honourable
I can confidently say that the Committee for the Higher Edu-
cation of Women most earnestly desires to interest and benefit records of scientific labour. We do not say all of them, because
those who are teaching others, and who feel the necessity of a we notice an archbishop and a bishop, whose claims to admission
better education for themselves ; but I believe that the wider and to the Academy must, judging from their published works, have
more general object of the whole movement (of which this small rested upon their social position or general attainments rather
committee .for South Kensington and Chelsea forms a struggling than upon their scientific labours.
and isolated element) is, not so much to improve those who are
already engaged in teaching, as to elevate the tone of educa- W E have been favoured by Professor Newton, of Yale College,
tion amongst girls who will eventually be teachers, whether as
governesses or as mothers. with the following notes as to the November star-shower :—"We
This I think is enough reason for giving the lectures in the were unfortunate here this year in observations upon the November
daytime, for it would be difficult for girls to come out alone to meteors. Both nights, the I3th-I4th, and I4th-I5th, having
classes in the evening. Of course it is hoped that in time a been overcast. Through breaks in the clouds we saw a few
regular system may be established for the training of teachers and stragglers, some of which were true November meteors, radiating
students at once, but meanwhile we can but trust that even these from Leo, and leaving for an instant the soft trail peculiar to
weak forces, if they are rightly directed, may have some good
effect, if it is only in awakening an interest in these subjects those bodies. But the number of meteors during the hour
amongst those who can help. between three and four a.m. of Monday morning was probably
It is very difficult, in London especially, to get at the class of not more than double or treble the usual number for any morn-
students which we most wish to benefit. I think the fact is that in ing. The small part of the sky visible prevented any reliable
London at least, schoolmistresses and governesses are, with a few estimate of numbers. Similar weather has rendered observation
exceptions, inclined to be narrow and conservative on the subject impossible at every station from which I have heard."
of educational improvements. If they would only come forward
and interest themselves^ in the scheme their co-operation would FROM a preliminary report made to the Association Scientifique
be most valuable. de France, by M. C. Wolf, of the Imperial Observatory of Paris,

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 170 NATURE [Dec. 9, 1869
would have required less excavation than the actual scheme ? In I hope that your correspondent " M . " and others who feel as
the second place, as Mr. Login says, there would be locks at she does, may see this letter and will understand how difficult it
either end of the canal, which would be not only costly, but most is at the outset to satisfy so many conflicting requirements at
inconvenient for ships in their passage. In the third place I once.
doubt very much whether the whole stream of the eastern branch The course of lectures on Greek History and Literature
of the Nile would suffice to keep the canal and the great Bitter which Mr. W. R. Kennedy is now giving on Saturdays at the
Lakes full. Some time ago, indeed, it was disputed whether the South Kensington Museum is very thinly attended, which.is
Mediterranean and the Red Sea together, pouring into the Bitter exceedingly discouraging, especially as particular pains have
Lakes, would raise them to the level of the sea, owing to the been taken to make these lectures strictly educational, by means
influences of absorption and evaporation. The facts, however, of questions set to be worked at by the students at home.
proved to the contrary. Brompton, Nov. 30 M. A. B,
.Still, Mr. Login is much more ambitious. With a single
stream (that is to say, taking the eastern branch of the Nile at T h e American Eclipse
Damietta), less in volume than the present maritime canal, he DR. MORTON, Professor of Chemistry in the University of
proposes riot only filling the Bitter Lakes to the level of the sea, Pennsylvania, has kindly forwarded me photographs of the
but raising them to a level of at least twelve feet beyond it phenomena of totality. By combining in the stereoscope pairs
(thereby nearly doubling their present volume). Lastly, if the of these, separated by intervals of about half-a-minute of time,
canal and Bitter Lakes could be filled sufficiently by the Nile the black globe of the moon appears projected far in front of the
spring the dry season, it would be overflowing during the floods, luminous prominences and the corona, which are, therefore,
and if it could be filled only in the season of the floods, in the clearly seen to belong to the sun. Glass transparencies from
dry season it would be nearly empty. negatives specially selected for this purpose, and appropriately
As to the question of breakwaters at the Mediterranean end, mounted, would show these phenomena in a very striking maimer.
Mr. Login rightly says that the annual deposit along the coast is W I L L I A M CROOKES
hardly perceptible. I cannot see, therefore, what improvement
the breakwaters he suggests would be upon the present ones,
seeing that the easterly current ncrm passes the extremity of the NOTES
west pier with a speed of two or three miles an hour. He there- TO-NIGHT the physicists take their turn at the Royal Society,
fore not only proposes sending a current of at least five miles an and the physical constitution of the sun will form one of the
hour for a considerable distance up the canal (as his plan infallibly
must)—rendering it in strong prevailing winds almost impossible subjects dealt with.
to get out from between his breakwaters—but also sacrificing a W E believe that the communication to be read at the Royal
splendid harbour of 55° acres in extent. Geographical Society on Monday will be one of great interest.
I quite agree with Mr. Login in thinking that the Suez Canal A PERIODICAL, after the model of the popular Annates des
will not only outlive all abuse, but become one of the greatest
blessings to the civilised world. Sciences Naturelles, will be commenced in Paris at the beginning
Birkenhead, Nov. II EDW. RAE of the year. It is to be named the Annates des Sciences Geolo-
giqaes. We are promised an important and fully illustrated
The Poles of Mars memoir on the Geology of Palestine, by M. Lartet. The
PERMIT me through your columns to inquire whether any editors of the new journal will be M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards
experiments have been made, by polarisation, to test the state- for the PaUeontological, and M. Hebert for the Geological
ment that the light from the brilliant spots round the poles of
Mars is reflected? departments.
If nothing has yet been done, will some correspondent decide T H E Swedish Academy of Sciences has just issued, under the
the point? G. W. title " Lefnadsteckningar ofver Kongl. Svenska Vetenshaps
Nov. 25 Akademicus efter Ar 1854 aflidna Ledamoter," the first number
Lectures to Ladies of a series of biographical notices of those of its members who
IN the fourth number of NATURE there is a letter signed " M." have died since the year 1854. In the absence of the preface,
on this subject, in which it is asserted that nearly all the women which is deferred until the publication of the second number, we
who most wish to attend these lectures, and who would most
benefit by doing so, "are practically shut out from those at are unable to say whether all the members of the Academy are
South Kensington and at University College, because none of the thought worthy a special biography, or only its most distinguished
lectures are given in the evening." Your correspondent gives members. However this may be, we fear that very few of the
South Kensington credit for saying something about " persons twenty men, whose lives are recorded in this first number, are
engaged in tuition," but she adds that it is a mere mockery, as known to fame beyond the limits of their native land, notwith-
this very fact prevents their getting out in the daytime.
standing that most of them have left behind them honourable
I can confidently say that the Committee for the Higher Edu-
cation of Women most earnestly desires to interest and benefit records of scientific labour. We do not say all of them, because
those who are teaching others, and who feel the necessity of a we notice an archbishop and a bishop, whose claims to admission
better education for themselves ; but I believe that the wider and to the Academy must, judging from their published works, have
more general object of the whole movement (of which this small rested upon their social position or general attainments rather
committee .for South Kensington and Chelsea forms a struggling than upon their scientific labours.
and isolated element) is, not so much to improve those who are
already engaged in teaching, as to elevate the tone of educa- W E have been favoured by Professor Newton, of Yale College,
tion amongst girls who will eventually be teachers, whether as
governesses or as mothers. with the following notes as to the November star-shower :—"We
This I think is enough reason for giving the lectures in the were unfortunate here this year in observations upon the November
daytime, for it would be difficult for girls to come out alone to meteors. Both nights, the I3th-I4th, and I4th-I5th, having
classes in the evening. Of course it is hoped that in time a been overcast. Through breaks in the clouds we saw a few
regular system may be established for the training of teachers and stragglers, some of which were true November meteors, radiating
students at once, but meanwhile we can but trust that even these from Leo, and leaving for an instant the soft trail peculiar to
weak forces, if they are rightly directed, may have some good
effect, if it is only in awakening an interest in these subjects those bodies. But the number of meteors during the hour
amongst those who can help. between three and four a.m. of Monday morning was probably
It is very difficult, in London especially, to get at the class of not more than double or treble the usual number for any morn-
students which we most wish to benefit. I think the fact is that in ing. The small part of the sky visible prevented any reliable
London at least, schoolmistresses and governesses are, with a few estimate of numbers. Similar weather has rendered observation
exceptions, inclined to be narrow and conservative on the subject impossible at every station from which I have heard."
of educational improvements. If they would only come forward
and interest themselves^ in the scheme their co-operation would FROM a preliminary report made to the Association Scientifique
be most valuable. de France, by M. C. Wolf, of the Imperial Observatory of Paris,

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 170 NATURE [Dec. 9, 1869
would have required less excavation than the actual scheme ? In I hope that your correspondent " M . " and others who feel as
the second place, as Mr. Login says, there would be locks at she does, may see this letter and will understand how difficult it
either end of the canal, which would be not only costly, but most is at the outset to satisfy so many conflicting requirements at
inconvenient for ships in their passage. In the third place I once.
doubt very much whether the whole stream of the eastern branch The course of lectures on Greek History and Literature
of the Nile would suffice to keep the canal and the great Bitter which Mr. W. R. Kennedy is now giving on Saturdays at the
Lakes full. Some time ago, indeed, it was disputed whether the South Kensington Museum is very thinly attended, which.is
Mediterranean and the Red Sea together, pouring into the Bitter exceedingly discouraging, especially as particular pains have
Lakes, would raise them to the level of the sea, owing to the been taken to make these lectures strictly educational, by means
influences of absorption and evaporation. The facts, however, of questions set to be worked at by the students at home.
proved to the contrary. Brompton, Nov. 30 M. A. B,
.Still, Mr. Login is much more ambitious. With a single
stream (that is to say, taking the eastern branch of the Nile at T h e American Eclipse
Damietta), less in volume than the present maritime canal, he DR. MORTON, Professor of Chemistry in the University of
proposes riot only filling the Bitter Lakes to the level of the sea, Pennsylvania, has kindly forwarded me photographs of the
but raising them to a level of at least twelve feet beyond it phenomena of totality. By combining in the stereoscope pairs
(thereby nearly doubling their present volume). Lastly, if the of these, separated by intervals of about half-a-minute of time,
canal and Bitter Lakes could be filled sufficiently by the Nile the black globe of the moon appears projected far in front of the
spring the dry season, it would be overflowing during the floods, luminous prominences and the corona, which are, therefore,
and if it could be filled only in the season of the floods, in the clearly seen to belong to the sun. Glass transparencies from
dry season it would be nearly empty. negatives specially selected for this purpose, and appropriately
As to the question of breakwaters at the Mediterranean end, mounted, would show these phenomena in a very striking maimer.
Mr. Login rightly says that the annual deposit along the coast is W I L L I A M CROOKES
hardly perceptible. I cannot see, therefore, what improvement
the breakwaters he suggests would be upon the present ones,
seeing that the easterly current ncrm passes the extremity of the NOTES
west pier with a speed of two or three miles an hour. He there- TO-NIGHT the physicists take their turn at the Royal Society,
fore not only proposes sending a current of at least five miles an and the physical constitution of the sun will form one of the
hour for a considerable distance up the canal (as his plan infallibly
must)—rendering it in strong prevailing winds almost impossible subjects dealt with.
to get out from between his breakwaters—but also sacrificing a W E believe that the communication to be read at the Royal
splendid harbour of 55° acres in extent. Geographical Society on Monday will be one of great interest.
I quite agree with Mr. Login in thinking that the Suez Canal A PERIODICAL, after the model of the popular Annates des
will not only outlive all abuse, but become one of the greatest
blessings to the civilised world. Sciences Naturelles, will be commenced in Paris at the beginning
Birkenhead, Nov. II EDW. RAE of the year. It is to be named the Annates des Sciences Geolo-
giqaes. We are promised an important and fully illustrated
The Poles of Mars memoir on the Geology of Palestine, by M. Lartet. The
PERMIT me through your columns to inquire whether any editors of the new journal will be M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards
experiments have been made, by polarisation, to test the state- for the PaUeontological, and M. Hebert for the Geological
ment that the light from the brilliant spots round the poles of
Mars is reflected? departments.
If nothing has yet been done, will some correspondent decide T H E Swedish Academy of Sciences has just issued, under the
the point? G. W. title " Lefnadsteckningar ofver Kongl. Svenska Vetenshaps
Nov. 25 Akademicus efter Ar 1854 aflidna Ledamoter," the first number
Lectures to Ladies of a series of biographical notices of those of its members who
IN the fourth number of NATURE there is a letter signed " M." have died since the year 1854. In the absence of the preface,
on this subject, in which it is asserted that nearly all the women which is deferred until the publication of the second number, we
who most wish to attend these lectures, and who would most
benefit by doing so, "are practically shut out from those at are unable to say whether all the members of the Academy are
South Kensington and at University College, because none of the thought worthy a special biography, or only its most distinguished
lectures are given in the evening." Your correspondent gives members. However this may be, we fear that very few of the
South Kensington credit for saying something about " persons twenty men, whose lives are recorded in this first number, are
engaged in tuition," but she adds that it is a mere mockery, as known to fame beyond the limits of their native land, notwith-
this very fact prevents their getting out in the daytime.
standing that most of them have left behind them honourable
I can confidently say that the Committee for the Higher Edu-
cation of Women most earnestly desires to interest and benefit records of scientific labour. We do not say all of them, because
those who are teaching others, and who feel the necessity of a we notice an archbishop and a bishop, whose claims to admission
better education for themselves ; but I believe that the wider and to the Academy must, judging from their published works, have
more general object of the whole movement (of which this small rested upon their social position or general attainments rather
committee .for South Kensington and Chelsea forms a struggling than upon their scientific labours.
and isolated element) is, not so much to improve those who are
already engaged in teaching, as to elevate the tone of educa- W E have been favoured by Professor Newton, of Yale College,
tion amongst girls who will eventually be teachers, whether as
governesses or as mothers. with the following notes as to the November star-shower :—"We
This I think is enough reason for giving the lectures in the were unfortunate here this year in observations upon the November
daytime, for it would be difficult for girls to come out alone to meteors. Both nights, the I3th-I4th, and I4th-I5th, having
classes in the evening. Of course it is hoped that in time a been overcast. Through breaks in the clouds we saw a few
regular system may be established for the training of teachers and stragglers, some of which were true November meteors, radiating
students at once, but meanwhile we can but trust that even these from Leo, and leaving for an instant the soft trail peculiar to
weak forces, if they are rightly directed, may have some good
effect, if it is only in awakening an interest in these subjects those bodies. But the number of meteors during the hour
amongst those who can help. between three and four a.m. of Monday morning was probably
It is very difficult, in London especially, to get at the class of not more than double or treble the usual number for any morn-
students which we most wish to benefit. I think the fact is that in ing. The small part of the sky visible prevented any reliable
London at least, schoolmistresses and governesses are, with a few estimate of numbers. Similar weather has rendered observation
exceptions, inclined to be narrow and conservative on the subject impossible at every station from which I have heard."
of educational improvements. If they would only come forward
and interest themselves^ in the scheme their co-operation would FROM a preliminary report made to the Association Scientifique
be most valuable. de France, by M. C. Wolf, of the Imperial Observatory of Paris,

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 170 NATURE [Dec. 9, 1869
would have required less excavation than the actual scheme ? In I hope that your correspondent " M . " and others who feel as
the second place, as Mr. Login says, there would be locks at she does, may see this letter and will understand how difficult it
either end of the canal, which would be not only costly, but most is at the outset to satisfy so many conflicting requirements at
inconvenient for ships in their passage. In the third place I once.
doubt very much whether the whole stream of the eastern branch The course of lectures on Greek History and Literature
of the Nile would suffice to keep the canal and the great Bitter which Mr. W. R. Kennedy is now giving on Saturdays at the
Lakes full. Some time ago, indeed, it was disputed whether the South Kensington Museum is very thinly attended, which.is
Mediterranean and the Red Sea together, pouring into the Bitter exceedingly discouraging, especially as particular pains have
Lakes, would raise them to the level of the sea, owing to the been taken to make these lectures strictly educational, by means
influences of absorption and evaporation. The facts, however, of questions set to be worked at by the students at home.
proved to the contrary. Brompton, Nov. 30 M. A. B,
.Still, Mr. Login is much more ambitious. With a single
stream (that is to say, taking the eastern branch of the Nile at T h e American Eclipse
Damietta), less in volume than the present maritime canal, he DR. MORTON, Professor of Chemistry in the University of
proposes riot only filling the Bitter Lakes to the level of the sea, Pennsylvania, has kindly forwarded me photographs of the
but raising them to a level of at least twelve feet beyond it phenomena of totality. By combining in the stereoscope pairs
(thereby nearly doubling their present volume). Lastly, if the of these, separated by intervals of about half-a-minute of time,
canal and Bitter Lakes could be filled sufficiently by the Nile the black globe of the moon appears projected far in front of the
spring the dry season, it would be overflowing during the floods, luminous prominences and the corona, which are, therefore,
and if it could be filled only in the season of the floods, in the clearly seen to belong to the sun. Glass transparencies from
dry season it would be nearly empty. negatives specially selected for this purpose, and appropriately
As to the question of breakwaters at the Mediterranean end, mounted, would show these phenomena in a very striking maimer.
Mr. Login rightly says that the annual deposit along the coast is W I L L I A M CROOKES
hardly perceptible. I cannot see, therefore, what improvement
the breakwaters he suggests would be upon the present ones,
seeing that the easterly current ncrm passes the extremity of the NOTES
west pier with a speed of two or three miles an hour. He there- TO-NIGHT the physicists take their turn at the Royal Society,
fore not only proposes sending a current of at least five miles an and the physical constitution of the sun will form one of the
hour for a considerable distance up the canal (as his plan infallibly
must)—rendering it in strong prevailing winds almost impossible subjects dealt with.
to get out from between his breakwaters—but also sacrificing a W E believe that the communication to be read at the Royal
splendid harbour of 55° acres in extent. Geographical Society on Monday will be one of great interest.
I quite agree with Mr. Login in thinking that the Suez Canal A PERIODICAL, after the model of the popular Annates des
will not only outlive all abuse, but become one of the greatest
blessings to the civilised world. Sciences Naturelles, will be commenced in Paris at the beginning
Birkenhead, Nov. II EDW. RAE of the year. It is to be named the Annates des Sciences Geolo-
giqaes. We are promised an important and fully illustrated
The Poles of Mars memoir on the Geology of Palestine, by M. Lartet. The
PERMIT me through your columns to inquire whether any editors of the new journal will be M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards
experiments have been made, by polarisation, to test the state- for the PaUeontological, and M. Hebert for the Geological
ment that the light from the brilliant spots round the poles of
Mars is reflected? departments.
If nothing has yet been done, will some correspondent decide T H E Swedish Academy of Sciences has just issued, under the
the point? G. W. title " Lefnadsteckningar ofver Kongl. Svenska Vetenshaps
Nov. 25 Akademicus efter Ar 1854 aflidna Ledamoter," the first number
Lectures to Ladies of a series of biographical notices of those of its members who
IN the fourth number of NATURE there is a letter signed " M." have died since the year 1854. In the absence of the preface,
on this subject, in which it is asserted that nearly all the women which is deferred until the publication of the second number, we
who most wish to attend these lectures, and who would most
benefit by doing so, "are practically shut out from those at are unable to say whether all the members of the Academy are
South Kensington and at University College, because none of the thought worthy a special biography, or only its most distinguished
lectures are given in the evening." Your correspondent gives members. However this may be, we fear that very few of the
South Kensington credit for saying something about " persons twenty men, whose lives are recorded in this first number, are
engaged in tuition," but she adds that it is a mere mockery, as known to fame beyond the limits of their native land, notwith-
this very fact prevents their getting out in the daytime.
standing that most of them have left behind them honourable
I can confidently say that the Committee for the Higher Edu-
cation of Women most earnestly desires to interest and benefit records of scientific labour. We do not say all of them, because
those who are teaching others, and who feel the necessity of a we notice an archbishop and a bishop, whose claims to admission
better education for themselves ; but I believe that the wider and to the Academy must, judging from their published works, have
more general object of the whole movement (of which this small rested upon their social position or general attainments rather
committee .for South Kensington and Chelsea forms a struggling than upon their scientific labours.
and isolated element) is, not so much to improve those who are
already engaged in teaching, as to elevate the tone of educa- W E have been favoured by Professor Newton, of Yale College,
tion amongst girls who will eventually be teachers, whether as
governesses or as mothers. with the following notes as to the November star-shower :—"We
This I think is enough reason for giving the lectures in the were unfortunate here this year in observations upon the November
daytime, for it would be difficult for girls to come out alone to meteors. Both nights, the I3th-I4th, and I4th-I5th, having
classes in the evening. Of course it is hoped that in time a been overcast. Through breaks in the clouds we saw a few
regular system may be established for the training of teachers and stragglers, some of which were true November meteors, radiating
students at once, but meanwhile we can but trust that even these from Leo, and leaving for an instant the soft trail peculiar to
weak forces, if they are rightly directed, may have some good
effect, if it is only in awakening an interest in these subjects those bodies. But the number of meteors during the hour
amongst those who can help. between three and four a.m. of Monday morning was probably
It is very difficult, in London especially, to get at the class of not more than double or treble the usual number for any morn-
students which we most wish to benefit. I think the fact is that in ing. The small part of the sky visible prevented any reliable
London at least, schoolmistresses and governesses are, with a few estimate of numbers. Similar weather has rendered observation
exceptions, inclined to be narrow and conservative on the subject impossible at every station from which I have heard."
of educational improvements. If they would only come forward
and interest themselves^ in the scheme their co-operation would FROM a preliminary report made to the Association Scientifique
be most valuable. de France, by M. C. Wolf, of the Imperial Observatory of Paris,

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 170 NATURE [Dec. 9, 1869
would have required less excavation than the actual scheme ? In I hope that your correspondent " M . " and others who feel as
the second place, as Mr. Login says, there would be locks at she does, may see this letter and will understand how difficult it
either end of the canal, which would be not only costly, but most is at the outset to satisfy so many conflicting requirements at
inconvenient for ships in their passage. In the third place I once.
doubt very much whether the whole stream of the eastern branch The course of lectures on Greek History and Literature
of the Nile would suffice to keep the canal and the great Bitter which Mr. W. R. Kennedy is now giving on Saturdays at the
Lakes full. Some time ago, indeed, it was disputed whether the South Kensington Museum is very thinly attended, which.is
Mediterranean and the Red Sea together, pouring into the Bitter exceedingly discouraging, especially as particular pains have
Lakes, would raise them to the level of the sea, owing to the been taken to make these lectures strictly educational, by means
influences of absorption and evaporation. The facts, however, of questions set to be worked at by the students at home.
proved to the contrary. Brompton, Nov. 30 M. A. B,
.Still, Mr. Login is much more ambitious. With a single
stream (that is to say, taking the eastern branch of the Nile at T h e American Eclipse
Damietta), less in volume than the present maritime canal, he DR. MORTON, Professor of Chemistry in the University of
proposes riot only filling the Bitter Lakes to the level of the sea, Pennsylvania, has kindly forwarded me photographs of the
but raising them to a level of at least twelve feet beyond it phenomena of totality. By combining in the stereoscope pairs
(thereby nearly doubling their present volume). Lastly, if the of these, separated by intervals of about half-a-minute of time,
canal and Bitter Lakes could be filled sufficiently by the Nile the black globe of the moon appears projected far in front of the
spring the dry season, it would be overflowing during the floods, luminous prominences and the corona, which are, therefore,
and if it could be filled only in the season of the floods, in the clearly seen to belong to the sun. Glass transparencies from
dry season it would be nearly empty. negatives specially selected for this purpose, and appropriately
As to the question of breakwaters at the Mediterranean end, mounted, would show these phenomena in a very striking maimer.
Mr. Login rightly says that the annual deposit along the coast is W I L L I A M CROOKES
hardly perceptible. I cannot see, therefore, what improvement
the breakwaters he suggests would be upon the present ones,
seeing that the easterly current ncrm passes the extremity of the NOTES
west pier with a speed of two or three miles an hour. He there- TO-NIGHT the physicists take their turn at the Royal Society,
fore not only proposes sending a current of at least five miles an and the physical constitution of the sun will form one of the
hour for a considerable distance up the canal (as his plan infallibly
must)—rendering it in strong prevailing winds almost impossible subjects dealt with.
to get out from between his breakwaters—but also sacrificing a W E believe that the communication to be read at the Royal
splendid harbour of 55° acres in extent. Geographical Society on Monday will be one of great interest.
I quite agree with Mr. Login in thinking that the Suez Canal A PERIODICAL, after the model of the popular Annates des
will not only outlive all abuse, but become one of the greatest
blessings to the civilised world. Sciences Naturelles, will be commenced in Paris at the beginning
Birkenhead, Nov. II EDW. RAE of the year. It is to be named the Annates des Sciences Geolo-
giqaes. We are promised an important and fully illustrated
The Poles of Mars memoir on the Geology of Palestine, by M. Lartet. The
PERMIT me through your columns to inquire whether any editors of the new journal will be M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards
experiments have been made, by polarisation, to test the state- for the PaUeontological, and M. Hebert for the Geological
ment that the light from the brilliant spots round the poles of
Mars is reflected? departments.
If nothing has yet been done, will some correspondent decide T H E Swedish Academy of Sciences has just issued, under the
the point? G. W. title " Lefnadsteckningar ofver Kongl. Svenska Vetenshaps
Nov. 25 Akademicus efter Ar 1854 aflidna Ledamoter," the first number
Lectures to Ladies of a series of biographical notices of those of its members who
IN the fourth number of NATURE there is a letter signed " M." have died since the year 1854. In the absence of the preface,
on this subject, in which it is asserted that nearly all the women which is deferred until the publication of the second number, we
who most wish to attend these lectures, and who would most
benefit by doing so, "are practically shut out from those at are unable to say whether all the members of the Academy are
South Kensington and at University College, because none of the thought worthy a special biography, or only its most distinguished
lectures are given in the evening." Your correspondent gives members. However this may be, we fear that very few of the
South Kensington credit for saying something about " persons twenty men, whose lives are recorded in this first number, are
engaged in tuition," but she adds that it is a mere mockery, as known to fame beyond the limits of their native land, notwith-
this very fact prevents their getting out in the daytime.
standing that most of them have left behind them honourable
I can confidently say that the Committee for the Higher Edu-
cation of Women most earnestly desires to interest and benefit records of scientific labour. We do not say all of them, because
those who are teaching others, and who feel the necessity of a we notice an archbishop and a bishop, whose claims to admission
better education for themselves ; but I believe that the wider and to the Academy must, judging from their published works, have
more general object of the whole movement (of which this small rested upon their social position or general attainments rather
committee .for South Kensington and Chelsea forms a struggling than upon their scientific labours.
and isolated element) is, not so much to improve those who are
already engaged in teaching, as to elevate the tone of educa- W E have been favoured by Professor Newton, of Yale College,
tion amongst girls who will eventually be teachers, whether as
governesses or as mothers. with the following notes as to the November star-shower :—"We
This I think is enough reason for giving the lectures in the were unfortunate here this year in observations upon the November
daytime, for it would be difficult for girls to come out alone to meteors. Both nights, the I3th-I4th, and I4th-I5th, having
classes in the evening. Of course it is hoped that in time a been overcast. Through breaks in the clouds we saw a few
regular system may be established for the training of teachers and stragglers, some of which were true November meteors, radiating
students at once, but meanwhile we can but trust that even these from Leo, and leaving for an instant the soft trail peculiar to
weak forces, if they are rightly directed, may have some good
effect, if it is only in awakening an interest in these subjects those bodies. But the number of meteors during the hour
amongst those who can help. between three and four a.m. of Monday morning was probably
It is very difficult, in London especially, to get at the class of not more than double or treble the usual number for any morn-
students which we most wish to benefit. I think the fact is that in ing. The small part of the sky visible prevented any reliable
London at least, schoolmistresses and governesses are, with a few estimate of numbers. Similar weather has rendered observation
exceptions, inclined to be narrow and conservative on the subject impossible at every station from which I have heard."
of educational improvements. If they would only come forward
and interest themselves^ in the scheme their co-operation would FROM a preliminary report made to the Association Scientifique
be most valuable. de France, by M. C. Wolf, of the Imperial Observatory of Paris,

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

Dec. 9, 1869] NATURE
we leam that the corps of observers appointed to watch the
November star-shower was duly in the Marseilles district as pre-
viously arranged. On the night of the 12th, 210 stars were
catalogued at Barcelonette, 116 at Marseilles, 120 at Montpellier,
and only 31 at Orange (these last being merely sporadic). On
th'e 13th, 130 stars were noticed at Orange. At this place the
centre of the shower seems to have been much obscured by
clouds, to the great disappointment of the observers. But else-
where, especially at Turin, Marseilles, Valence, and Toulon,
there was a magnificent display. The work of uniting the
manifold results obtained, and deducing the distance of the
bolides from the earth, as well as their radiant point, will shortly
be commenced.
FATHER SECCHI writes to Les Mondes that the meteors of the
14th November were splendidly seen at Rome during half an
hour when the sky was quite clear. Although this half-hour
was not the time for the maximum display, no less than 183
meteors were observed. On the evening of the 13th, the
meteors had already commenced to be visible in greater numbers
than ordinary.
T H E Rainfall Committee for 1860-69, in their report presented
to the British Association at Exeter, remark that, as they are
now on the eve of completing their decennial return for 1860-69,
it behoves them to consider how they may best secure for the
ensuing period the attainment of the objects for which they were
originally constituted. They state that, even to those least
acquainted with the subject, it will be apparent how much more
desirable as well as easy it is to compare simultaneous observa-
tions than those wherein the observed values and their times are
different. The number and distribution of the existing observa-
tion stations, though incomparably superior to that which existed
some years since, is still capable of improvement; tracts of land,
the rainfall of which as water-supply is of high importance, re-
maining without adequate observations, while other places are,
if possible, too well provided. Mr. G. Symons requests ns to
announce, that any persons who may be recording the fall of rain,
or intending to record it, will oblige by forwarding to him, at 62,
Camden Square, N.W., their names and addresses, in order that
duplicate gauges may not be started unnecessarily near to them.
AT a recent meeting of the Ethnological Society some photo-
graphs of the great megalithic monuments in Wiltshire were
exhibited. We understand that a scheme is now in progress to
obtain funds for the purpose of procuring a series of photographic
representations of the megalithic monuments found in England
and France, and, if possible, in Europe and Algeria. Such a
series, in which the compass-bearings and accurate dimensions
would be given, [would be invaluable to the student of archae-
ology. Any of our readers interested in the work, who wish to
know more of the details, are requested to communicate with
the librarian, Royal Geographical Society, 15, Whitehall Place.
W E have been favoured by a correspondent with an account of
a lecture given by Dr. Hector, at the New Zealand Institute, on
the subject of Mining in New Zealand. The lecturer, in consi-
dering the mineral substances excavated from the superficial
deposits, proceeded in the first place to give a short account of
the building material. According to his statement, the number of
building stones already worked in New Zealand is very large. They
are generally divided into granites, limestones, and sandstones.
There is a granite quarry at Adele Island, in Blind Bay; and
the valuable stone also exists in unbounded quantities on the
west coast of Otago, under circumstances most favourable for
excavation and shipment. There is also very great variety in the
colour and grain, whilst the quality is generally admitted to be
excellent. Pure siliceous varieties of sandstones occur with the
coal formations. The freestones are chiefly in the tertiary forma-
tion of New Zealand, from sandstone, to clay sandstones, and
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
171
argillaceous sandy limestones, and pure limestone. The finest is
the Oamaru stone, which, the lecturer stated, excelled most
ordinary building stones in other parts of the world. There are
no roofing-slate mines in New Zealand being worked, but there
is no doubt that they exist. After reviewing the building ma -
terials, Dr. Hector passed on to the consideration of the valuable
sands, the character and distribution of which were thoroughly
explained.
W E have received the following note on the subject of the
Holborn Valley Viaduct:—"From the position of the cracks in
the columns it is evident that they have been bodily strained
over towards the roadway. This may be accounted for by the
great difference in weight between half the arch over the road-
way and half the arch over the footway. Taking one girder and
its load in each case, the weight of that over the roadway would
be about eighty-five tons, and that over the footway only twenty-
five tons; the additional weight over the column is eight tons,
making therefore in all one hundred and eighteen tons supported
by each column, and resting on a cap of the column which is five
feet wide. Consequently, the centre of gravity of these weights
is considerably out of the centre line of the column, and so tends
to " cant" it over towards the roadway. Now, since a removal
of the centre of pressure only one-sixth of the width of the cap
from the centre line will double the strain on the edge nearest to
the centre of pressure, the extra strain imposed on the side of
the column nearest the roadway may be easily conceived. If in
addition to this we assume the joints to be badly made (which
appears probable), the cause of failure can no longer be a matter
of surprise. For if the joints were made with convex faces
no force would affect the outside filaments of the column, unless
the whole column were crushed; but if concave, it is obvious that
the edges would have to sustain the whole load. In the case of
the Viaduct, as the load is unequally applied, the evil of the
concave faces would be greatly exaggerated, and the column
would necessarily be crushed on the faces nearest the roadway
which support (as stated above) the greater weight. The report
of the engineer may be shortly expected."
W E have received the following notes from our Dublin corre-
spondent :—
Professor Jellett, B.D., has been almost unanimously elected
as President of the Royal Irish Academy. One vote was recorded
for Sir Robert Kane, F.R.S.
The Botanical Gardens at Glasnevin are known to the majority
of the visitors to Dublin; they are beautifully situated on the
banks of the little river Tolka, and contain a large collection of
rare plants. Some years ago the Committee of Botany of the
Royal Dublin Society, acting on the advice of the director of the
gardens, purchased a large iron shed, in which they displayed
portions of a collection of plants and their products useful to
man. This structure was from the first quite unfit for preserving
the valuable collection placed in it; the specimens were neces-
sarily crowded together, and any arrangement was impossible.
Still, the large numbers that visited this room to study the
contents of the cases, and oftentimes to take notes of the history
of the specimens, as told on their labels, testified to the great
and intelligent interest that was taken in the collection by the
public.
The special function of the Science and Art Department
appears to be to provide for the improvement of the people in
science and art, and they placed on the estimates for the four years
between 1865'and 1869, a sum of 4,000/. for building a museum at
the Botanical Gardens, close to the front entrance gate, through
which so many thousand visitors pass in the course of each year.
This sum, small though it may appear, would have been sufficient
to have built and cased a large plain building, which would have
contained all the present collection, and the additions to it, for
many years; but though the money was voted by Parliament for
 172 NATURE [Dec. 9, 1869
several years, it was never applied to this purpose: and we think preservation ot every description of objects, animal or vegetable.
it but justice to the cause of science in Ireland, to call the With this the most delicate tissues can be perfectly seen and
attention of the Science and Art Department to this fact, and to examined; it preserves the colours, is very tenacious, and " its
urge them to have this sum inserted in the estimates for the refractive powers are sufficient to render all inert structures
coming year. transparent; while even the delicate lines on the scales of a
It is scarcely necessary to remind readers of NATURE of the mosquito's wing are as distinctly visible as if mounted dry."
importance of having the Museum of Economic Botany as close The formula for the preparation of this valuable jelly is thus
to the Botanical Gardens as possible, especially when, as in this set forth:—Take one package of Cox's gelatine, wash re-
case, these gardens are so largely resorted to; but it may not peatedly in cold water, then place in a vessel and cover with cold
be amiss to inform them that the numerous members of the water. Allow it to soak an hour or two, pour off superfluous
Royal Dublin Society have among themselves contributed, as Water, add a pint of boiling water, place vessel on fire, and boil
donations, almost all the specimens in the present Economic for ten or fifteen minutes ; remove from fire, and when cool, but
Museum. still fluid, add the white of an egg well beaten, replace on the
A local committee has been formed in Dublin of the "Veitch" fire, and boil until the albumen of the egg coagulates. Strain
Memorial. Dr. Moore, F.L.S., Director of the Botanical while hot through flannel, and add an equal portion by measure-
Gardens, Glasnevin, is the chairman, and a considerable number men/ of Bower's pure glycerine, and fifty drops of carbolic acid in
of subscriptions has been received. solution : boil again for ten or fifteen minutes, and again strain
through flannel; place in water bath, and evaporate to about
AT a meeting of the Ashmolean Society, Oxford, Nov. 29th, one half; then filter (through cotton) into 2 oz. broad-mouthed
Prof. Lawson read a short paper on Chlorophyll. Although he phials. When thus made, the jelly is to be used in the mount-
had made no original observations on this subject himself, he ing of objects as follows :—Place the stock bottle in a small jar
had no doubt but that a general view of what had been done of boiling water; when it becomes fluid, a sufficient quantity
recently by others would prove interesting to the Society. In must be removed to the slide (previously warmed) with a glass
speaking of the optical properties of chlorophyll, he called rod ; the object (previously soaked for some hours in equal parts
particular attention to the observations made on this branch of of glycerine and distilled water, with a few drops of alcohol) is
the subject by Professor Stokes; observations which had dis- to be placed in the drop of fluid jelly, a cover applied, and a
proved the old theory that chlorophyll could be separated into light weight placed upon it to exclude superfluous jelly. When
two primary substances of a yellow and blue colour (the cold, clean off the slide with a knife, wash in cold water, and
xanthophyll and cyanophyll of M. Fremy). He dwelt also finish with a ring of gold size or shellac varnish.
upon the fact that Mr. H. L. Smith's careful comparison of the
spectrum of the endochrom of diatoms with that of chlorophyll T H E volume of the Memoirs of the Geological Survey of
went far to prove the two substances to be identical. Chloro- England and Wales, just published, consists of an important mono-
phyll had been formerly supposed to be a product of the graph on the Geology of the Carboniferous Limestone, Yordale
vegetable kingdom only; but more recently a green colouring Rocks, and Millstone Grit of North Derbyshire and the ad-
matter, closely allied to chlorophyll if not identical with it, had joining parts of Yorkshire, explanatory of sheets 8 J N. E. and
been detected in many of the lower forms of animal life. These S.E., and 72 N.E. of the Survey Map. The work is by Messrs.
discoveries illustrated in a striking manner how the supposed A. H. Green, C. Le Neve Foster, and J. R. Dakyns ; and con-
gaps between the two kingdoms were filled up. tains an elaborate description of the geology of the district,
illustrated with numerous important sections and a few views.
A T Clare College, Cambridge, a scholarship, value 50/., Mr. Etheridge has contributed an Appendix and tabular list of
tenable for three years, will be given for proficiency in natural fossils, with indications of the localities in which they occur.
science. The examination, commencing March 30, 1870, will be
in chemistry, chemical physics, comparative anatomy, physiology,
and geology. Excellence in one or two of these subjects is pre- ASTRONOMY
ferred to a less perfect acquaintance with a greater number. Spectroscopic Observations of the Sun
Further particulars can be obtained from the tutor of the PROFESSOR C. A. Young, of Dartmouth, U.S., has com-
college. municated to the October number of the Journal of the Franklin
Institute the following important observations of solar pro-
T H E Pall Mall announces the publication of the seventeenth tuberances, which entirely endorse the work done by Mr. Lockyer
volume of the Report of the Schools Inquiry Commission. It in this country. We are enabled to place them thus early before
comprises reports on the schools in what the Commissioners have our readers by the kindness of Professor Morton.
denned as the north-western district—namely, the counties of September 4th, 1869.—Prominences were noted on the sun's
limb at 3 p.m. to-day in the following positions, angles reckoned
Lancashire and Cheshire. from North point to the East:—
WE understand'that it is not the intention of the Government
to fill up the vacancy in the curatorship of the Botanic Gardens
at the Mauritius, caused by the death of Dr. Meller, but to
promote the head-gardener to the highest post of authority.
DR. MCQUILLEN has exhibited in the Microscopical Depart-
ment of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia, slides
of blood corpuscles of men and the lower animals, to which
chloroform and nitrous oxide had been administered, to show
that there was no morphological change in these bodies after ad-
ministration of anaesthetics, as stated by certain physiologists in
t. + 70' to + ioo°, very straggling, not very bright.
England. He showed specimens also in which, the blood cor- 2. - 10°, large and diffuse.
puscles having been brought into actual contact with chloroform 3. - 90°, small, but pretty bright.
and ether, disintegration had taken place. September 13th, 1869. —The following protuberances were
noted to-day.
ON the same occasion, Mr. W. H. "Walmsley called attention r. Between +80° and + 1100, a long straggling range of pro-
to the very great merits of glycerine jelly as a medium for the tuberances, whose form was as in Fig. 1. I dare not profess any

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 172 NATURE [Dec. 9, 1869
several years, it was never applied to this purpose: and we think preservation ot every description of objects, animal or vegetable.
it but justice to the cause of science in Ireland, to call the With this the most delicate tissues can be perfectly seen and
attention of the Science and Art Department to this fact, and to examined; it preserves the colours, is very tenacious, and " its
urge them to have this sum inserted in the estimates for the refractive powers are sufficient to render all inert structures
coming year. transparent; while even the delicate lines on the scales of a
It is scarcely necessary to remind readers of NATURE of the mosquito's wing are as distinctly visible as if mounted dry."
importance of having the Museum of Economic Botany as close The formula for the preparation of this valuable jelly is thus
to the Botanical Gardens as possible, especially when, as in this set forth:—Take one package of Cox's gelatine, wash re-
case, these gardens are so largely resorted to; but it may not peatedly in cold water, then place in a vessel and cover with cold
be amiss to inform them that the numerous members of the water. Allow it to soak an hour or two, pour off superfluous
Royal Dublin Society have among themselves contributed, as Water, add a pint of boiling water, place vessel on fire, and boil
donations, almost all the specimens in the present Economic for ten or fifteen minutes ; remove from fire, and when cool, but
Museum. still fluid, add the white of an egg well beaten, replace on the
A local committee has been formed in Dublin of the "Veitch" fire, and boil until the albumen of the egg coagulates. Strain
Memorial. Dr. Moore, F.L.S., Director of the Botanical while hot through flannel, and add an equal portion by measure-
Gardens, Glasnevin, is the chairman, and a considerable number men/ of Bower's pure glycerine, and fifty drops of carbolic acid in
of subscriptions has been received. solution : boil again for ten or fifteen minutes, and again strain
through flannel; place in water bath, and evaporate to about
AT a meeting of the Ashmolean Society, Oxford, Nov. 29th, one half; then filter (through cotton) into 2 oz. broad-mouthed
Prof. Lawson read a short paper on Chlorophyll. Although he phials. When thus made, the jelly is to be used in the mount-
had made no original observations on this subject himself, he ing of objects as follows :—Place the stock bottle in a small jar
had no doubt but that a general view of what had been done of boiling water; when it becomes fluid, a sufficient quantity
recently by others would prove interesting to the Society. In must be removed to the slide (previously warmed) with a glass
speaking of the optical properties of chlorophyll, he called rod ; the object (previously soaked for some hours in equal parts
particular attention to the observations made on this branch of of glycerine and distilled water, with a few drops of alcohol) is
the subject by Professor Stokes; observations which had dis- to be placed in the drop of fluid jelly, a cover applied, and a
proved the old theory that chlorophyll could be separated into light weight placed upon it to exclude superfluous jelly. When
two primary substances of a yellow and blue colour (the cold, clean off the slide with a knife, wash in cold water, and
xanthophyll and cyanophyll of M. Fremy). He dwelt also finish with a ring of gold size or shellac varnish.
upon the fact that Mr. H. L. Smith's careful comparison of the
spectrum of the endochrom of diatoms with that of chlorophyll T H E volume of the Memoirs of the Geological Survey of
went far to prove the two substances to be identical. Chloro- England and Wales, just published, consists of an important mono-
phyll had been formerly supposed to be a product of the graph on the Geology of the Carboniferous Limestone, Yordale
vegetable kingdom only; but more recently a green colouring Rocks, and Millstone Grit of North Derbyshire and the ad-
matter, closely allied to chlorophyll if not identical with it, had joining parts of Yorkshire, explanatory of sheets 8 J N. E. and
been detected in many of the lower forms of animal life. These S.E., and 72 N.E. of the Survey Map. The work is by Messrs.
discoveries illustrated in a striking manner how the supposed A. H. Green, C. Le Neve Foster, and J. R. Dakyns ; and con-
gaps between the two kingdoms were filled up. tains an elaborate description of the geology of the district,
illustrated with numerous important sections and a few views.
A T Clare College, Cambridge, a scholarship, value 50/., Mr. Etheridge has contributed an Appendix and tabular list of
tenable for three years, will be given for proficiency in natural fossils, with indications of the localities in which they occur.
science. The examination, commencing March 30, 1870, will be
in chemistry, chemical physics, comparative anatomy, physiology,
and geology. Excellence in one or two of these subjects is pre- ASTRONOMY
ferred to a less perfect acquaintance with a greater number. Spectroscopic Observations of the Sun
Further particulars can be obtained from the tutor of the PROFESSOR C. A. Young, of Dartmouth, U.S., has com-
college. municated to the October number of the Journal of the Franklin
Institute the following important observations of solar pro-
T H E Pall Mall announces the publication of the seventeenth tuberances, which entirely endorse the work done by Mr. Lockyer
volume of the Report of the Schools Inquiry Commission. It in this country. We are enabled to place them thus early before
comprises reports on the schools in what the Commissioners have our readers by the kindness of Professor Morton.
denned as the north-western district—namely, the counties of September 4th, 1869.—Prominences were noted on the sun's
limb at 3 p.m. to-day in the following positions, angles reckoned
Lancashire and Cheshire. from North point to the East:—
WE understand'that it is not the intention of the Government
to fill up the vacancy in the curatorship of the Botanic Gardens
at the Mauritius, caused by the death of Dr. Meller, but to
promote the head-gardener to the highest post of authority.
DR. MCQUILLEN has exhibited in the Microscopical Depart-
ment of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia, slides
of blood corpuscles of men and the lower animals, to which
chloroform and nitrous oxide had been administered, to show
that there was no morphological change in these bodies after ad-
ministration of anaesthetics, as stated by certain physiologists in
t. + 70' to + ioo°, very straggling, not very bright.
England. He showed specimens also in which, the blood cor- 2. - 10°, large and diffuse.
puscles having been brought into actual contact with chloroform 3. - 90°, small, but pretty bright.
and ether, disintegration had taken place. September 13th, 1869. —The following protuberances were
noted to-day.
ON the same occasion, Mr. W. H. "Walmsley called attention r. Between +80° and + 1100, a long straggling range of pro-
to the very great merits of glycerine jelly as a medium for the tuberances, whose form was as in Fig. 1. I dare not profess any

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 Dec. 9, 1869J NA
very extreme accuracy in the drawings, not being a practised
draughtsman, but the sketch gives a very fair idea of the number,
form", and arrangement of the immense cloudy mass, whose
height was about 50" and its length 330" (22,500 miles by
1.350,000)'. The points a and b were very bright.
"2. +135° small, but very bright at the base, of this form
(Fig- 2).
3. - 85° of this form (Fig. 3).
The dark spot, marked c, was very curious, reminding one
•ilrongly of the so-called fish-mouth in the nebula of Orion, 1
saw no change in it for 20 minutes. On the other hand, the first
FIG. FIG. 3.
series mentioned were changing rapidly, so that at five o'clock
the sketch which was drawn at two was quite inapplicable, only
the general features remaining unaltered,
4. — I280, about 20" high, forked, as in Fig. 4.
The structure was cirrus in every one but No. 3, which seemed
more like a mass of cumulus.
To-day, for the first time, I saw b1 reversed
in the chromosphere when the slit was tangent
to disc; 1474 was easy; the new line at 2602
cannot be detected as yet.
At 2.25, while examining the spectrum of a
large group of spots near] the sun's western
limb, my attention was drawn to a peculiar
double knobbishness of the F line (on the sun's
disc, not at the edge), represented by Fig. 5, a,
FIG. 4. at the point e. In a very few moments a
brilliant spot replaced the knobs, not merely
interrupting and reversing the dark line, but blazing like a star
near the horizon, only with blue instead of red light; it remained
for about two minutes, disappearing, unfortunately, while I was
examining the sun's image upon the graduated screen at the slit,
in order to fix its position, which was at - 82§, about 43" from
the edge of the limb, about 15" inside of the inner edge of the
spot-cluster. I do not know, therefore,
whether it disappeared instantaneously
b a or gradually, but presume the latter.
Fig. 5> ^> attempts to give an idea of
the appearance. "When I returned to
the eye-piece, I saw what is represented
at Fig. 5, c, &c. On the upper (more
refrangible) edge of F there seemed
to hang a little black mote, making a
barb, whose point reached nearly to
\ the faint iron line just above F. As
given on Angstrom's atlas, the wave-
length of F is 486-07, while that of
the iron line referred to is 485 '92 (the
units being millionths of a millimetre).
This shows an absolute change of o'lj
in the wave-length, or a fraction of its
F I G . 5.
whole amount, represented by the
decimal o'00030, and would indicate an advancing velocity of
about 55 -5 miles per second in the mass of hydrogen whose
absorption produced this barbed displacement.
The barb continued visible for about five minutes, gradually
resolving itself into three small lumps, one on the upper, and
two on the lower line, Fig. 5, d. In about ten minutes more,
the F line resumed its usual appearance, I did not examine the
c line, as I did not wish to disturb the adjustments and risk
losing some of the curious changes going on under my eye.
After the close of this strange phenomenon, I examined, with
our large telescope of 6-inch aperture, the neighbourhood in
which this took place, and found a very small spot exceedingly
close to, if not actually at, the place. This was at 2.45. At
5- 30 it had grown considerably.
Undoubtedly, the phenomenon seen was the same referred to
°y Mr. Lockyer when he speaks of often seeing the bright lines
°f the prominences not only at the sun's limb but on his disc.
It is the only time I have had the good fortune to see it as yet.
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
TURE 173
GEOLOGY
Structure of E o p h y t o n
T H E Geological Magazine for the present month contains a
paper by Mr. Henry Hicks, describing the structure of a fossil,
from the Lower Arenig rocks of Ramsey Island, near St. David's,
which he considers to be an Eophyton, resembling E. Liiiiuca-
num of Tol'ell. The rocks in which this fossil occurs rest
conformably upon Upper Lingula flags, and underlie rocks of the
Skiddaw or Tremadoc series.
Mr. Hicks describes and figures the fossil under the name of
Eophyton (?) explanation. He describes it as a moderately
convex stem, about four lines broad, jointed, and ribbed through-
out its whole length. At one joint in the specimen described,
the ribs bend outwards, as if to form a branch. The stem is
covered by a very thin cortical substance, within which it is
composed of minute tubular columns, lying close together, anil
running the whole length from one joint to another.
The Geological Magazine also contains papers by Mr. Ruskin
on Banded and Brecciated Concretions, illustrated with a plate
and several woodcuts ;• by Mr. Poulett Scrope, on the pretended
raised Beaches of the Inland Slopes of England and Wales,
severely criticising Mr. D, Mackintosh's recent volume on Geology
and Scenery; by Prof. Harkness, on the middle Pleistocene de-
posits of Britain; by Mr. R. Tate, on additions to the list of
British Brachiopoda of the secondary rocks, including a table
showing the distribution of the British Liassic Brachiopoda ; and
by Mr. W. H. S. Westropp, on the occurrence of "albite" in
the granite of Leinster. Lord Enniskillen contributes a cata-
logue of the type specimens of fossil fishes in his collection.
The number also contains the usual notices, reviews, and abstracts
of the proceedings of societies, correspondence, &c.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES
LONDON
Chemical Society, December 2.— Di\ A. W. Williamson,
F.R.S., in the chair. Sir Roderick Murchison. Bart., F.R.S..
Messrs. M. H. Cochrane, Edward Smith, T. Walton, M.R.C.S.J
G. M. Hopwood, John Wiggin, Thomas Gibb, and George
Harrison were elected Fellows. A paper on some points of the
Chemical Nomenclature of Salts by Mr. H. G. Maden was
read. The author advocated the Use of the prefixes " proto ''
and " p e r " instead of the terminations " 011s " and " i c " in the
nomenclature of salts, and expressed his preference for the sys-
tematic names formed from English words, as " copper sulphate."
Dr> Attfield recommended an adherence to trivial names like
"calomel" and "corrosive sublimate," when possible, as
changes in theory necessarily led to inconvenient alterations in
nomenclature. Dr. Williamson objected to Mr. Maden's pro-
posal to revert to the use of the prefixes " p r o t o " and "per,"
on the ground that they had formerly produced great confusion,
particularly in the nomenclature of the chlorides of mercury. He
advocated an extension of the use of the terminations "ous"and
" ic," which indicated the places of compounds in a series with-
out binding chemists to particular views of constitution. He
thought Mr. Maden's preference for English words might be car-
ried too far and produce such terms as' "brimstonic acid" and
"charcoalic oxide." Mr. Vernon Harcourt expressed his gene-
ral concurrence with the author. Dr. Odling pointed out that
in certain names, such as " ferricyanide of iron," it was advanta<
geous to use both English and Latin names. Dr. Voelcker thought
that the employment of different names for the same substance
familiarised chemists with different views of constitution, A
communication from Mr.. J. Hunter on the analyses of sea-water
from different depths was read. The author gave the results of
observations made during the recent scientific expedition of the
Porcupine.
^ Zoological Society, November 25.—Mr. John Gould,
F.R.S., y . P . , in the chair.—Mr. Sclater made some remarks en
the condition of various zoological gardens, on the Continent
recently visited by him, and on rare animals observed in those
establishments. The secretary exhibited on behalf of Mr. John
Brazier, C.M.Z.S., the eggs of a megapode (Megapodius) from
Banks Island, New Hebrides, indicating the existence of a species
of this genus in that group of islands. A letter Was read from
Mr. W. T. Eraser, C.M.Z.S., giving some confirmatory facts
 Dec. 9, 1869J NA
very extreme accuracy in the drawings, not being a practised
draughtsman, but the sketch gives a very fair idea of the number,
form", and arrangement of the immense cloudy mass, whose
height was about 50" and its length 330" (22,500 miles by
1.350,000)'. The points a and b were very bright.
"2. +135° small, but very bright at the base, of this form
(Fig- 2).
3. - 85° of this form (Fig. 3).
The dark spot, marked c, was very curious, reminding one
•ilrongly of the so-called fish-mouth in the nebula of Orion, 1
saw no change in it for 20 minutes. On the other hand, the first
FIG. FIG. 3.
series mentioned were changing rapidly, so that at five o'clock
the sketch which was drawn at two was quite inapplicable, only
the general features remaining unaltered,
4. — I280, about 20" high, forked, as in Fig. 4.
The structure was cirrus in every one but No. 3, which seemed
more like a mass of cumulus.
To-day, for the first time, I saw b1 reversed
in the chromosphere when the slit was tangent
to disc; 1474 was easy; the new line at 2602
cannot be detected as yet.
At 2.25, while examining the spectrum of a
large group of spots near] the sun's western
limb, my attention was drawn to a peculiar
double knobbishness of the F line (on the sun's
disc, not at the edge), represented by Fig. 5, a,
FIG. 4. at the point e. In a very few moments a
brilliant spot replaced the knobs, not merely
interrupting and reversing the dark line, but blazing like a star
near the horizon, only with blue instead of red light; it remained
for about two minutes, disappearing, unfortunately, while I was
examining the sun's image upon the graduated screen at the slit,
in order to fix its position, which was at - 82§, about 43" from
the edge of the limb, about 15" inside of the inner edge of the
spot-cluster. I do not know, therefore,
whether it disappeared instantaneously
b a or gradually, but presume the latter.
Fig. 5> ^> attempts to give an idea of
the appearance. "When I returned to
the eye-piece, I saw what is represented
at Fig. 5, c, &c. On the upper (more
refrangible) edge of F there seemed
to hang a little black mote, making a
barb, whose point reached nearly to
\ the faint iron line just above F. As
given on Angstrom's atlas, the wave-
length of F is 486-07, while that of
the iron line referred to is 485 '92 (the
units being millionths of a millimetre).
This shows an absolute change of o'lj
in the wave-length, or a fraction of its
F I G . 5.
whole amount, represented by the
decimal o'00030, and would indicate an advancing velocity of
about 55 -5 miles per second in the mass of hydrogen whose
absorption produced this barbed displacement.
The barb continued visible for about five minutes, gradually
resolving itself into three small lumps, one on the upper, and
two on the lower line, Fig. 5, d. In about ten minutes more,
the F line resumed its usual appearance, I did not examine the
c line, as I did not wish to disturb the adjustments and risk
losing some of the curious changes going on under my eye.
After the close of this strange phenomenon, I examined, with
our large telescope of 6-inch aperture, the neighbourhood in
which this took place, and found a very small spot exceedingly
close to, if not actually at, the place. This was at 2.45. At
5- 30 it had grown considerably.
Undoubtedly, the phenomenon seen was the same referred to
°y Mr. Lockyer when he speaks of often seeing the bright lines
°f the prominences not only at the sun's limb but on his disc.
It is the only time I have had the good fortune to see it as yet.
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
TURE 173
GEOLOGY
Structure of E o p h y t o n
T H E Geological Magazine for the present month contains a
paper by Mr. Henry Hicks, describing the structure of a fossil,
from the Lower Arenig rocks of Ramsey Island, near St. David's,
which he considers to be an Eophyton, resembling E. Liiiiuca-
num of Tol'ell. The rocks in which this fossil occurs rest
conformably upon Upper Lingula flags, and underlie rocks of the
Skiddaw or Tremadoc series.
Mr. Hicks describes and figures the fossil under the name of
Eophyton (?) explanation. He describes it as a moderately
convex stem, about four lines broad, jointed, and ribbed through-
out its whole length. At one joint in the specimen described,
the ribs bend outwards, as if to form a branch. The stem is
covered by a very thin cortical substance, within which it is
composed of minute tubular columns, lying close together, anil
running the whole length from one joint to another.
The Geological Magazine also contains papers by Mr. Ruskin
on Banded and Brecciated Concretions, illustrated with a plate
and several woodcuts ;• by Mr. Poulett Scrope, on the pretended
raised Beaches of the Inland Slopes of England and Wales,
severely criticising Mr. D, Mackintosh's recent volume on Geology
and Scenery; by Prof. Harkness, on the middle Pleistocene de-
posits of Britain; by Mr. R. Tate, on additions to the list of
British Brachiopoda of the secondary rocks, including a table
showing the distribution of the British Liassic Brachiopoda ; and
by Mr. W. H. S. Westropp, on the occurrence of "albite" in
the granite of Leinster. Lord Enniskillen contributes a cata-
logue of the type specimens of fossil fishes in his collection.
The number also contains the usual notices, reviews, and abstracts
of the proceedings of societies, correspondence, &c.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES
LONDON
Chemical Society, December 2.— Di\ A. W. Williamson,
F.R.S., in the chair. Sir Roderick Murchison. Bart., F.R.S..
Messrs. M. H. Cochrane, Edward Smith, T. Walton, M.R.C.S.J
G. M. Hopwood, John Wiggin, Thomas Gibb, and George
Harrison were elected Fellows. A paper on some points of the
Chemical Nomenclature of Salts by Mr. H. G. Maden was
read. The author advocated the Use of the prefixes " proto ''
and " p e r " instead of the terminations " 011s " and " i c " in the
nomenclature of salts, and expressed his preference for the sys-
tematic names formed from English words, as " copper sulphate."
Dr> Attfield recommended an adherence to trivial names like
"calomel" and "corrosive sublimate," when possible, as
changes in theory necessarily led to inconvenient alterations in
nomenclature. Dr. Williamson objected to Mr. Maden's pro-
posal to revert to the use of the prefixes " p r o t o " and "per,"
on the ground that they had formerly produced great confusion,
particularly in the nomenclature of the chlorides of mercury. He
advocated an extension of the use of the terminations "ous"and
" ic," which indicated the places of compounds in a series with-
out binding chemists to particular views of constitution. He
thought Mr. Maden's preference for English words might be car-
ried too far and produce such terms as' "brimstonic acid" and
"charcoalic oxide." Mr. Vernon Harcourt expressed his gene-
ral concurrence with the author. Dr. Odling pointed out that
in certain names, such as " ferricyanide of iron," it was advanta<
geous to use both English and Latin names. Dr. Voelcker thought
that the employment of different names for the same substance
familiarised chemists with different views of constitution, A
communication from Mr.. J. Hunter on the analyses of sea-water
from different depths was read. The author gave the results of
observations made during the recent scientific expedition of the
Porcupine.
^ Zoological Society, November 25.—Mr. John Gould,
F.R.S., y . P . , in the chair.—Mr. Sclater made some remarks en
the condition of various zoological gardens, on the Continent
recently visited by him, and on rare animals observed in those
establishments. The secretary exhibited on behalf of Mr. John
Brazier, C.M.Z.S., the eggs of a megapode (Megapodius) from
Banks Island, New Hebrides, indicating the existence of a species
of this genus in that group of islands. A letter Was read from
Mr. W. T. Eraser, C.M.Z.S., giving some confirmatory facts
 Dec. 9, 1869J NA
very extreme accuracy in the drawings, not being a practised
draughtsman, but the sketch gives a very fair idea of the number,
form", and arrangement of the immense cloudy mass, whose
height was about 50" and its length 330" (22,500 miles by
1.350,000)'. The points a and b were very bright.
"2. +135° small, but very bright at the base, of this form
(Fig- 2).
3. - 85° of this form (Fig. 3).
The dark spot, marked c, was very curious, reminding one
•ilrongly of the so-called fish-mouth in the nebula of Orion, 1
saw no change in it for 20 minutes. On the other hand, the first
FIG. FIG. 3.
series mentioned were changing rapidly, so that at five o'clock
the sketch which was drawn at two was quite inapplicable, only
the general features remaining unaltered,
4. — I280, about 20" high, forked, as in Fig. 4.
The structure was cirrus in every one but No. 3, which seemed
more like a mass of cumulus.
To-day, for the first time, I saw b1 reversed
in the chromosphere when the slit was tangent
to disc; 1474 was easy; the new line at 2602
cannot be detected as yet.
At 2.25, while examining the spectrum of a
large group of spots near] the sun's western
limb, my attention was drawn to a peculiar
double knobbishness of the F line (on the sun's
disc, not at the edge), represented by Fig. 5, a,
FIG. 4. at the point e. In a very few moments a
brilliant spot replaced the knobs, not merely
interrupting and reversing the dark line, but blazing like a star
near the horizon, only with blue instead of red light; it remained
for about two minutes, disappearing, unfortunately, while I was
examining the sun's image upon the graduated screen at the slit,
in order to fix its position, which was at - 82§, about 43" from
the edge of the limb, about 15" inside of the inner edge of the
spot-cluster. I do not know, therefore,
whether it disappeared instantaneously
b a or gradually, but presume the latter.
Fig. 5> ^> attempts to give an idea of
the appearance. "When I returned to
the eye-piece, I saw what is represented
at Fig. 5, c, &c. On the upper (more
refrangible) edge of F there seemed
to hang a little black mote, making a
barb, whose point reached nearly to
\ the faint iron line just above F. As
given on Angstrom's atlas, the wave-
length of F is 486-07, while that of
the iron line referred to is 485 '92 (the
units being millionths of a millimetre).
This shows an absolute change of o'lj
in the wave-length, or a fraction of its
F I G . 5.
whole amount, represented by the
decimal o'00030, and would indicate an advancing velocity of
about 55 -5 miles per second in the mass of hydrogen whose
absorption produced this barbed displacement.
The barb continued visible for about five minutes, gradually
resolving itself into three small lumps, one on the upper, and
two on the lower line, Fig. 5, d. In about ten minutes more,
the F line resumed its usual appearance, I did not examine the
c line, as I did not wish to disturb the adjustments and risk
losing some of the curious changes going on under my eye.
After the close of this strange phenomenon, I examined, with
our large telescope of 6-inch aperture, the neighbourhood in
which this took place, and found a very small spot exceedingly
close to, if not actually at, the place. This was at 2.45. At
5- 30 it had grown considerably.
Undoubtedly, the phenomenon seen was the same referred to
°y Mr. Lockyer when he speaks of often seeing the bright lines
°f the prominences not only at the sun's limb but on his disc.
It is the only time I have had the good fortune to see it as yet.
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
TURE 173
GEOLOGY
Structure of E o p h y t o n
T H E Geological Magazine for the present month contains a
paper by Mr. Henry Hicks, describing the structure of a fossil,
from the Lower Arenig rocks of Ramsey Island, near St. David's,
which he considers to be an Eophyton, resembling E. Liiiiuca-
num of Tol'ell. The rocks in which this fossil occurs rest
conformably upon Upper Lingula flags, and underlie rocks of the
Skiddaw or Tremadoc series.
Mr. Hicks describes and figures the fossil under the name of
Eophyton (?) explanation. He describes it as a moderately
convex stem, about four lines broad, jointed, and ribbed through-
out its whole length. At one joint in the specimen described,
the ribs bend outwards, as if to form a branch. The stem is
covered by a very thin cortical substance, within which it is
composed of minute tubular columns, lying close together, anil
running the whole length from one joint to another.
The Geological Magazine also contains papers by Mr. Ruskin
on Banded and Brecciated Concretions, illustrated with a plate
and several woodcuts ;• by Mr. Poulett Scrope, on the pretended
raised Beaches of the Inland Slopes of England and Wales,
severely criticising Mr. D, Mackintosh's recent volume on Geology
and Scenery; by Prof. Harkness, on the middle Pleistocene de-
posits of Britain; by Mr. R. Tate, on additions to the list of
British Brachiopoda of the secondary rocks, including a table
showing the distribution of the British Liassic Brachiopoda ; and
by Mr. W. H. S. Westropp, on the occurrence of "albite" in
the granite of Leinster. Lord Enniskillen contributes a cata-
logue of the type specimens of fossil fishes in his collection.
The number also contains the usual notices, reviews, and abstracts
of the proceedings of societies, correspondence, &c.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES
LONDON
Chemical Society, December 2.— Di\ A. W. Williamson,
F.R.S., in the chair. Sir Roderick Murchison. Bart., F.R.S..
Messrs. M. H. Cochrane, Edward Smith, T. Walton, M.R.C.S.J
G. M. Hopwood, John Wiggin, Thomas Gibb, and George
Harrison were elected Fellows. A paper on some points of the
Chemical Nomenclature of Salts by Mr. H. G. Maden was
read. The author advocated the Use of the prefixes " proto ''
and " p e r " instead of the terminations " 011s " and " i c " in the
nomenclature of salts, and expressed his preference for the sys-
tematic names formed from English words, as " copper sulphate."
Dr> Attfield recommended an adherence to trivial names like
"calomel" and "corrosive sublimate," when possible, as
changes in theory necessarily led to inconvenient alterations in
nomenclature. Dr. Williamson objected to Mr. Maden's pro-
posal to revert to the use of the prefixes " p r o t o " and "per,"
on the ground that they had formerly produced great confusion,
particularly in the nomenclature of the chlorides of mercury. He
advocated an extension of the use of the terminations "ous"and
" ic," which indicated the places of compounds in a series with-
out binding chemists to particular views of constitution. He
thought Mr. Maden's preference for English words might be car-
ried too far and produce such terms as' "brimstonic acid" and
"charcoalic oxide." Mr. Vernon Harcourt expressed his gene-
ral concurrence with the author. Dr. Odling pointed out that
in certain names, such as " ferricyanide of iron," it was advanta<
geous to use both English and Latin names. Dr. Voelcker thought
that the employment of different names for the same substance
familiarised chemists with different views of constitution, A
communication from Mr.. J. Hunter on the analyses of sea-water
from different depths was read. The author gave the results of
observations made during the recent scientific expedition of the
Porcupine.
^ Zoological Society, November 25.—Mr. John Gould,
F.R.S., y . P . , in the chair.—Mr. Sclater made some remarks en
the condition of various zoological gardens, on the Continent
recently visited by him, and on rare animals observed in those
establishments. The secretary exhibited on behalf of Mr. John
Brazier, C.M.Z.S., the eggs of a megapode (Megapodius) from
Banks Island, New Hebrides, indicating the existence of a species
of this genus in that group of islands. A letter Was read from
Mr. W. T. Eraser, C.M.Z.S., giving some confirmatory facts
 174
respecting the alleged existence of the rhinoceros in Borneo.
Mr. R. B. Sharpe exhibited a specimen of Alcedo grcmdis, a rare
species of kingfisher from the Terai of Darjeeling. Mr. Andrew
Murray exhibited specimens of some articles of food sold in the
markets of Old Calabar. These consisted of examples of a
fragivorous bat (Pteivfius) ready trussed, specimens of a rare
crustacean {Callianassa tiirneraiia)^ and thQ larvae of a Longicorn
beetle found in decayed palm-trees. A letter was read from Mr.
E. L. Layard, of Cape Town, F.Z.S., containing some remarks
as to priority of discovery of the remarkable nesting-habits of
the hornbills. Mr. H. J. Ehves, F.Z. S., exhibited a fine pair of
horns of the Sinaitic Ibex (Capra mibiana), and Mr. H. E.
Dresser, F.Z.S., some eggs of the little gull {Larus minutus)
recently taken in Russia. A communication was read from the
Rev. O. P. Cambridge, containing notes on some spiders and
scorpions recently collected in St. Helena by J. C. Melliss, Esq.
Judging from this collection, which, however, was of small
extent, the character of the Araneidea of St. Helena appeared to
bear a thoroughly European stamp. A communication was read
from Dr. O. Finsch, C.M.Z.S., and Dr. G. Hartlaub, F.M.Z.S.,
on a small collection of birds recently received by the Museum
Godefroyauum from the Tonga Islands. The species contained
in this collection were eleven in number, one of which was
believed to be new to science, and was proposed to be called
Myialestes ffehiei. A communication was read from Surgeon
Francis Day, F.Z.S., containing the second portion of his critical
remarks on the fishes in the Calcutta Museum. Two papers
were communicated by Mr. J. Brazier, C.M.Z.S., on the localities
of certain species of land-shells and volutes found in Australia
and the neighbouring islands, and on the species of cones met
with in Port Jackson, N.S.W. Mr. R. B. Sharpe read a paper
on the birds of Angola collected by J. J. Monteiro, Esq., which
were accompanied by the notes of the collector. The present
collection contained twenty-nine species, many of which were of
great interest. A communication was read from Mr. D. G.
Elliot, F.Z.S., containing a monograph of the genus Petecamis.
The species of pelicans recognised by Mr. Elliot were nine in
number. Mr. Sclater exhibited a specimen of a new species of
Mexican wren from the Berlin Museum, which he proposed to
describe under the name of Thryethorus nisorius. Mr. Sclater
also read some notes on the identification of two mammals
recently described by Dr. Gray from specimens living in the
Society's Gardens. A paper was read by Messrs. Sclater and
Salvin on Peruvian birds collected by Mr. Whitely, being the
fifth of a series of communications on this subject. Mr. John
Gould, F. Z.S., exhibited and described a new species of kingfisher
from North-Western Australia, which he proposed to call Dacelo
occidcutalis,
London Mathematical Society, NovemberaS.— Prof. Hirst,
and subsequently Prof. Sylvester, V.P., in the chair.—The Rev.
James White was admitted into the Society, and the Rev. Percival
Frost proposed for election. Dr. O. Henrici exhibited a model of
the cubic surface xyz - (f-)3 (x + y + s - I) 3 = O, which has three
biplanar nodes; it was constructed in cardboard to a scale of 2\
inches, as unit. A sufficient number (eleven) of sections x +• y
+ 2 - I = constant, cut out in cardboard, are connected in a
horizontal position, and kept at their proper distance by three
vertical sections y = z, % = x, x —y, with regard to which the
surface is symmetrical. The model contains the central part of
the surface with the three nodes, and is bounded by a sphere of
8 inches radius, with its centre at the origin, large enough to
show the position of the three straight lines in the surface (each
counting for nine), and to give an idea how the surface extends to
infinity. The interstices between the cardboard are intended to
be filled up with plaster of Paris, so as to form a solid model.
Mr. Clifford gave an account of an extension of a theorem of
Serret's illustrated by tables, one of which, designated A, is
annexed, with its explanation.
6 8
Power. 2 3 4 5 7 9
Conic . . . . 6 8 11 16 18 21 23
10 12 19 21 24 28
Quartic . . . . 15 20 24 29 31
Quintic . . . . 21 23 26 3° 35
Sextic . . . . 28 3° 33 37
Septic . . . . 36 38 41
Octavic . . . . 45 47
Nonic . . . . 55
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
NATURE [Dec. 9, 1869
The tables, for convenience, refer to points instead of lines,
and curves of given order instead of curves of given class. The
meaning of them will best appear from an example. Thus, in the
Table A above, opposite the word quartic and under thepower 8 we
find the number 29. This means that if the eighth powers of the
equations of 29 points are connected by a syzygy, the points are
all on a quartic curve. There are, moi-eover, intersections of the
quartic by an octavic, which, in virtue of a theorem of Jacobi's, is
an additional piece of information. Mr. Clifford also exhibited a
second Table* B, constructed in a similar manner for surfaces. Mr.
Roberts made a statement of a theorem in invariants, which,
however, is so mixed up with other considerations and details,
that it cannot well be isolated and its limiting circumstances
explained without going into further details than the limits of this
notice permit.
EDINBURGH
Geological Society, December 2.—Mr. Geikie, F.R.S.,
president, in the chair. The first paper was on the Succes-
sion of the Laurentian, Cambrian, and Lower Silurian. Rocks on
the Shores of Loch Broom, being a letter addressed to the pre-
sident by Sir Roderick Murchison.
Sir Roderick Murchison, in his paper, after alluding to his
previous researches in Scottish geology, >nd especially to the
order which he had been enabled to establish among the
rocks of the north-west Highlands, proceeded to give the re-
sults of a visit which he had paid last summer to the west of
Ross-shire. Along the shores of Loch Broom he found clear sec-
tions confirmatory of his previously published views. Among
the Summer Isles at the mouth of that loch the Laurentian
gneiss i$ found with its usual characteristic petrographical cha-
racter, it throws off the dull red or chocolate-coloured sandstones
which in one mountain, Ben More, must attain a thickness of
several thousand feet. These strata are inclined gently towards
the east, and are overlapped unconformably by the quartz rock
and limestone which form the lowest portions of the Lower
Silurian series. From the upper part of the uppermost quartz
rock there is a perfect ascending passage with the upper flaggy
gneiss, which rolls eastward over the rest of the Highlands.
By this fresh appeal to the natural sections of the north-west
Highlands, Sir Roderick had been again able to confirm the now
established order of succession among these ancient rocks.—
Mr. Geikie, F.R. S., afterwards communicated a series of notes
for a comparison of the volcanic geology of central Scotland with
that of Auvergne and the Eifel. The author began by alluding
to the labours of Boue, Forbes, Scrope, Daubeny, and others,
He then sketched the area occupied by rocks of volcanic origin
between the Grampians and the Silurian uplands of the southern
counties. The rocks which he proposed to make the subject of
more special remark in this paper were of carboniferous
age.
They were capable, he said, of being broadly treated under two
groups—1st, plateaux; and 2d, points of local eruption. I. Pla-
teaux of carboniferous volcanic rocks are extensively developed
in the western part of the midland valley. They form the range
of the Campsie and Kilpatrick fells, and, crossing the Clyde into
Renfrewshire, sweep for many miles through the north and
north-east of Ayrshire. They occur likewise as fragments on
the Clyde islands, Arran, Bute, and Cumbrae. Extensive as
the present area of these rocks is, there can be no doubt that
it once covered a much greater surface, and that one great pla-
teau of lavas and tuffs stretched from the Ochil Hills to the
south of Cantyre. Throughout the wide district where the
rocks still remain they retain a remarkable horizontality. They
consist of various porphyrites, melaphyres, and tuffs, arranged
in beds, which are placed over each other with great regu-
larity. Hence the hillsides wear a terraced appearance from the
alternation of harder and softer beds. This feature charac-
terises the Campsie fells and the hills south-westwards to Ar-
drossan, but it is most conspicuously displayed in some of the
valleys at the south end of Bute. One of the distinguishing
10
features of these plateaux is the comparative infrequency with
which any vent or true point of eruption can now be
26 detected. Occasionally such a vent is found as a boss oi
3° coarse volcanic agglomerate, or of porphyrite or melaphyre; but,
34 as a rule, all the foci of eruption are now buried under the
41 materials which they emitted. Another feature which runs
42
45 through the plateaux is the apparent continuity of the several
50 beds. Viewed from a little distance, the terraces of trap seem
57 each perfectly continuous for long distances. A closer exami-
 Dec. 9, 1869J NATURE
nation often shows that though the terrace may run on, the rock
of which it consists is formed of different sheets, which, though
lying on the same plane, have proceeded from different
vents. Mr. Geikie then pointed out the structure of some
of the volcanic plateaux of central France as illustrative of
those features of the Scottish plateaux to which he had re-
ferred. (2) While the western half of the Scottish carboni-
ferous area is characterised by the wide extent of its volcanic
plateaux, the eastern half is as strikingly distinguished by the
abundance of its points of local eruption. Traces of these in-
dependent but closely segregated vents are scattered over almost
the whole extent of Fife and the Lothians. They belong as a
whole to the lower division of the carboniferous formation. The
evidence by which their position can now be ascertained consists
of masses of stratified tuff, frequently associated with contem-
poraneous outflows of melaphyre. The number of the vents in
some parts of the country must have been very great. During
the deposition of the lower carboniferous rocks, the area of Lin-
lithgowshire and great part of Fife and East Lothian was dotted
over with little volcanoes, each throwing up its cone of ash, or
here and there emitting also a short current of lava. In some
places the vents were so closely placed together, that their ejec-
tions formed in the end one long volcanic bank, such as the
Garlton Hills and the range of heights between Bathgate and
Linlithgow. The vents were singularly local in their develop-
ment. Thus, while they continued in activity throughout Lin-
lithgowshire and Fife, as well as in Haddingtonshire, the inter-
vening area of Edinburghshire remained almost without them.
Their long continuance in the districts where they had once
broken out is remarkable. During the time represented by the
deposition of many hundred feet of strata, the area of Linlith-
gowshire continued to be the theatre of a wonderful volcanic ac-
tivity, new cones breaking out as the old ones were washed down.
Yet the county of Edinburgh, onlyafew miles to the east, remained
during that long period almost wholly unaffected by any volcanic
action. Reference was then made at some length to the extinct volca-
noes of Auvergne and the Eifel, and it was shown that in their form
and distribution, their small size, the nature of their products, and
the protracted period during which they had been in activity,
they enable us to realise vividly what was the condition of a
great part of central Scotland during the earlier ages of the car-
boniferous period. The concluding portion of the paper dwelt
upon the denudation of the volcanic rocks of Auvergne and of
Scotland. Mr. Scrope had shown conclusively that the wide
and deep valleys of the Loire, the Dordogne, and other streams
of central France had been carved out of volcanic rocks and
fresh-water strata by subaerial erosion alone. The form and
structure of these valleys were compared with those of valleys
which have been excavated out of volcanic rocks in Scotland,
and it was argued that the similarity of result was in all proba-
bility due to a similarity of cause. In the Scottish valleys the
influence of ice, and perhaps, in some cases, also of the sea,
had come into play to augment or modify that of the subaerial
forces. Yet there was every reason to believe that in Scotland,
as in France, the main share of the work had been done by
rains, frosts, and streams.
DUBLIN
Royal Irish Academy, November 30.—The Earl of Dun-
raven, F.R.S., V.P., in the chair. The minutes of the former
meeting, having been read and approved of, were signed. The
chairman briefly expressed his regret and that of the Academy
at the resignation of their former, president, Lord Talbot de
Malahide, and stated that he was ready to receive the names of
any candidates for the vacant office. The Rev. Dr; Lloyd, F. R. S.,
Provost of Trinity College, proposed that Professor Jellett should
be elected president. Among all the members of the Academy
he knew of none save one (Rev. Dr. Salmon, F. R. S.), who, in
his opinion, from his great scientific attainments, was so eligible
for this important post; and his friend Dr. Salmon had announced
his determination to withdraw his claims in favour of Mr. Jellett's.
Mr. Jellett was distinguished not only for his knowledge of the
higher branches of mathematics, but also for his knowledge of
their application, a combination not often to be met with in the
same individual. He felt sure that Mr. Jellett's presidency would
be as distinguished as that of any of his predecessors. Dr. Stokes,
F-R.S. (in the absence of the Rev. Dr. Russell, President of
the Royal College of Maynooth), secondedMr. Jellett's nomina-
tion. He reminded the Academy of the importance of having
for its president one who was well versed in its affairs, and Mr.
Jellett, when secretary of the council of the Academy, had acquired
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
i75
this knowledge. He would not refer to Mr. Jellett's position as
a man of science, but he would remind that large and influential
section of the Academy, the antiquaries, how much assistance
they could have, and were constantly having, from science.
Archseology was intimately connected with the natural sciences.
Even the laws relating to the flow and ebb of the tides were
shown by Professor Haughton to be thus connected, for he had
calculated the hour of low tide in the Bay of Dublin on the day
of the battle of Clontarf, and his hour absolutely coincides with
that named in the written record as translated by the late lamented
Dr. Todd. Sir William Wilde said that the provost had spoken
of Mr. Jellett's position as a man of science, and Dr. Stokes
had spoken of his general attainments and knowledge of the
Academy's affairs; but he wished to speak of him as a colleague
with whom he had been associated for many years, and as an
honest, straightforward man, who, irrespective of all party feel-
ing, did what he considered right without fear, prejudice, or
favour. The Academy had had " antiquarian" presidents; it was
now time to have one scientific president, and so win back many
scientific wanderers. He felt sure Mr. Jellett would never
forget the interests of the antiquarian party in the Academy, and
he looked forward to a bright career for the Academy under
Professor Jellett. Dr. Stewart, as a very old member of the
Academy, supported Mr. Jellett's claims. There being no other
candidate proposed, the ballot was opened and scrutineers
appointed. The chairman announced that there appeared, for
Professor Jellett, 55 votes; for Sir R. Kane, 1. He therefore
declared Mr. Jellett duly elected as president. The chairman
then, with a few graceful remarks, in which he congratulated the
Academy on its choice, resigned the chair to the new president.—
Sir W. Wilde exhibited a number of antiquities found in the
counties of Dublin, Londonderry, and Queen's County, among
which were a spirally twisted gold torque, either used as a finger
ring or a head ornament, three bronze mammillary brooches, some
fragments of bronze rings and bracelets, and a semicircular brooch
of beautiful decoration and unique form. The remainder of the
collection was chiefly of iron, and consisted of three very fine
swords with hilts. Sir William also exhibited a collection of
antiquities and casts from North and South America.—Professor
Apjohn, M.D., read a paper " On a new step in the analysis of
sugar." He stated that crude sugar and syrups generally contained
three varieties of saccharine matter, and in the case of such a
mixture, the method hitherto in use only, accomplished the
estimation of one of these, that usually known under the name
of Cane Sugar. The means of obtaining its amount, by the
optical saccharometer alone, or by Barreswil's solution, each
being applied before or after conversion, he then briefly
explained, pointing out at the same time that neither the
optical nor the chemical method could give any information in
relation to the amount of inverted sugar or of grape sugar
(crystallised glucose) which might happen to be present. This
problem, however, he thought could be completely solved by
a combination of the processes adverted to, and this he de-
monstrated by drawing attention to two equations—the one
expressing the result of an observation with the saccharometer,
the other that obtained by operating on the solution of copper
with the syrup both before and after its inversion. These
equations involved three unknown quantities, but one of the
three (the cane) might be determined by a preliminary observa-
tion with the saccharometer, and as by this contrivance the
number of unknown quantities would be reduced to two, the
problem admitted of a complete solution. This method of
analysis he had recently applied to several saccharine substances,
and with satisfactory results.
Royal Geological Society, November 10. — Dr. W.
Stokes, F.R.S., in the chair.—Rev. Professor Haughton read a
paper on the discovery of crystals of Albite in the Dalkley
granite; the mineral was found by Mr. W. H. S. Westropp, in
small crystals mixed with crystals of fluorspar. The existence
of this felspar in the Leinster granite was predicted by Professor
Haughton some years since, but it had not been found in a
separate crystalline form until these specimens were discovered.
This fact adds a new link to the chain of observations made by
Professor Haughton relative to the classification and origin of
granites, and shows the connection between the three great
granite masses of Mourne, Leinster, and Cornwall, in all of
which now the presence of albite has been distinctly ascertained.
—Dr. Macalister exhibited some human and canine bones brought
by Mr. H. Ormsby, Esq., Geological Survey, India, from the
celebrated cave Uaimh Fraing, Island of Eigg, the remains of
 r76 NATURE
some of the Macdonald clan, who were smothered there in the
sixteenth century.-"-Dr. Foot exhibited human bones from the
cave of Dunmore, county Waterford, the remains of an Irish
tribe suffocated there in the tenth century.—Specimens of the
gold-bearing quartz of South Australia were sent for exhibition
by Mrs. Gray, of Nareebnareeb, and of the gold-bearing quartz of
the Rocky Mountains by Dr. Trevor, of Mentena.—Mr. Harte,
County Surveyor of Donegal, exhibited some specimens of polished
red granite from that county, which were of great beauty, similar
in Jappearance to that of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
Natural History Society, December I;—Mr. W. Andrews,
V.P., in the chair. Dr. A. W. Foot read a paper entitled
"Notes on Irish Lepidoptera collected during the past sum-
mer. " These notes were chiefly records of a pleasant summer's
excursion in which no very great rarities were met with. Colitis
tdusa was found abundant in the County Kilkenny, arid Vanessa
polychloros was mentioned on the authority of a friend as having
been seen in the County Wicklow, Mr. Williams, Mr. F. W.
Kirby, Mr. Montgomery, and Dr. Haughtdn made remarks oh
tlie interest of many of the facts recorded in these notes. Mr.
W. Andrews, the chairman, stated that it was a -mistake to
call Chrysophanus dispar the scarce copper ; that C. virgaurece
was the scarce copper. He asserted that C. dispar Was hot Jrare
in England, and that he had met with it in Kerry; He also said
that the Limenitis which he had exhibited some years ago as
from Tarbert, was neither L. sibilla nor L. Camilla, but some-
thing quite different from either ; and that those who thought it
was L. Camilla were quite wrong. He said he would bring all
these facts before the society at another time. [Perhaps some
of our entomological readers will enlighten us on these points.
Is it possible that C. dispar is not a scarce butterfly ? Is not
C. virgauretz a continental insect ? If the Limenitis referred to
is not, as competent authorities assert, the L. Camilla of the Con-
tinent, what species is it ?]
NEWGASTLE-UPON-TYNE
Chemical S o c i e t y October 28. Annual Meeting.»Mr, I.
Lowthian Bell, F.C.S., President, in the chair. After the tran-
saction of the business of the Society, the President read his
address, in which he referred to the more important subjects
which had engaged the attention of the Society at the evening
meetings. He dwelt at length upon Mr. Pattinson's paper on
the relations between English and Foreign Alkalimetry and
Chlorimetry, which pointed out the fallacious results arising
from the retaining of the old atomic weight of soda. He also
called attention to the importance of Mr. B. S. Proctor's paper
on the Root of the Rhubarb Plant, which exposed the fallacy
which had led druggists and the medical profession, for the sake
of iiiere appearance, to reject the portion of the drug richest in
the active principle. The following extract from the address,
alluding to the relations of science to the public health, is par-
ticularly interesting :—" Among the manifold applications of the
truths revealed by means of chemical research, there is none
more gratifying to the philosopher or to the philanthropist than
that whereby chemistry is rendered subservient to the protection
and promotion of the public health. It has been reserved almost
for our own time to have it demonstrated that the observance of
certain so-called sanitary regulations is connected by the closest
bonds with the rate of mortality. This has been proved repfeatedly
in several large cities, at one time conspicuous for the high annual
death-rate among their inhabitants, but which, by the authorities
Sealing with the causes of offence, now escape from the penalty
which never fails to attend on the transgression of any great
natural law. We need not, indeed, go far for an example in
illustration of the doctrine I am enforcing^ for in the very
town in which we are now assembled, the rapid increase of
population had outgrown as it were some of those means and
appliances which must accompany the crowding together of
a vast number of human beings on a small area of ground.
The municipal authorities of Newcastle were no sooner pro-
perly impressed with the gravity of their position, and con-
vinced that the remedy and responsibility rested in their own '
hands, than the most vigorous measures were resorted to in
order to grapple with the evil, and we have, in consequence, to
congratulate ourselves on a remarkable alteration in the death-
rate of this town. J t may not be unworthy of mention that the
first quarter of 1866 exhibited a mortality corresponding to 48'4
for every thousand of the inhabitants, and that the average for
the whole of that year was a mere fraction within 40, viz., 39-7.
Taking 10 years, ending with i860, it was 35'4 per 1000, It
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
{Dec, 9, 1869
Cannot be otherwise than satisfactory to compare this with the
three] quarters of the present year, which is only 26'2, and for
the last quarter the deaths only amounted to 23'3 per 1000 ; in
short, from having held a most unenviable position among
the most unhealthy towns of the empire, we are now con-
spicuous among those in which the mortality is the lowest,
I am glad to be able to state that the condition of our atmo-
sphere, as affected by the burning of coal and the emission of
objectionable vapours, is now engaging the attention of a Com-
mittee, with the Mayor at its head, appointed to inquire into the
subject, I trust, now that the public mind has been directed to
the evil of a smoke-obscured sky, or poisoned air, before long,
the inhabitants will experience a happy change from the result of
. the labours of those charged with the investigation. It is only,
however, due to our chemical manufacturers to state that they
are fully alive to the importance of not permitting any unne-
cessary escape of vapours, having an actual yahie to themselves,
and very inconvenient to others when set at large, and therefore,
that they do not intend to rest content with the occasional visit
of the Government inspector, or of their owli superintendents,
but are making arrangements for the permanent and continuous
sampling of the gases after they have passed their condensihg
apparatus. Their observations in this direction, will, I feel
assured, be much lightened by a very ingenious aspirator, con-
structed by one of our members, Mr. Swan, now on the table, to
which I would invite inspection. I have, myself, been engaged
for some time in an examination of the state of combustion ex*
perienced by the fuel in our blast-furnaces, and I am so satisfied
that a proper study of the phenomena attending it involves con-
siderations of the utmost importance to the iron-smelter, that I
intend availing myself largely of the facilities which the appa-
ratus of Mr. Swan is capable of affording." The officers of last
year were re-elected by a large maj ority.
NORWICH
Geological Society, November II, Anniversary Meeting.—
The Rev. John Gunm F.G.S., President, in the Chair. The
President and Hon, Secretaries (Mr. J; E. Taylor, F.G.S., and
Mr. John King) were re-elected. In his opening address Mr,
Gunn alluded to the death of one of the hon. members of the
Society, Mr. Bernard B. Woodward. Referring to a paper by
Mr. Harmer, F. G.S., on the Chillesford clay and the crag con-
taining Te-llina balthica, he stated that he had himself published a
diagram of the coast and inland sections of Norfolk, and a de-
scription of what seemed to him a downthrow of GhiHesford clay>
or an upthrow of the chalk. He had also instituted a series of
measurements of the various levels at which this bed appeared
above the water, with a view to determining the amount of
disturbance, and had found the heights ranging from fourteen
to thirty-two feet. He thought that the difference between the
coast and inland sections might be due to this disturbance. Mr.
Gunn then noticed an excursion which had been made by the
Society to Aldborough, where the Norwich crag had been found
near the railway station, associated with undoubted red crag
forms. He also adverted to the paper by Mr. Tylor {read
before the Geological Society of London) on Valley Gravels.
In the discussion which followed the President's remarks, Mr.
Harmer gave an outline of the theory he had put forth in his
Paper with reference to the bed of shells containing Tellina
balthica. Both he and Mr. Searles Wood held this to be the
base of the lower drift beds, and contended that a great change
in the physical geography of the Eastern counties had taken
place between the period when the upper and lower Norwich
crags had been formed, and the time when the Tellina laltkica
bed had been deposited. The former had been deposited in an
estuary opening to the south, the latter in a similar one opening
to the north. This argued an oscillation of level in the mean-
time. Mr. Harmer also expressed himself against the theory
that so-called valley gravels were of fluviatile origin, and pointed
to Lopham Ford, where the height of the ground was only
twenty feet above water level; and yet which was the point of
departure for two streams whose much higher banks at some
distance were covered with valley gravels containing flint imple-
ments. With regard to the opinion that many of the flint
implements had been rolled down or transferred to the lower
levels, -Mr. J. E. Taylor stated that at Sainton Downham these
implements were found in their most perfect and totally unaltered
condition at the lowest levels. The chippings and edges wex-e as
fresh as when the weapons left the hands of their makers. He
suggested that the vicinity of Lopham Ford might have been
Dec. 9, 1869] NA TURE
denuded by atmospherical action since the origin of the present
rivers. Mr. Taylor then gave an account of a recent visit to
Chiliesford, in Suffolk, where he had studied the typical section,
and taken an inventory of the commonest fossils and their mode
of occurrence. The crag intercalated between the Chiliesford
clay contained great quantities of Mactra solida. This was the
shell found so abundantly at Arminghall, near Norwich, in a
bed resting on a portion of the Chiliesford clay. The usual beds
which, in the neighbourhood of Norwich, were found underlying
this clay, were absent at Arminghall, so that the clay rested on
the solid chalk. He had no doubt, therefore, that the interca-
lated crag at Chiliesford was represented at Arminghall by the
Mactra solida bed.
PARIS
Academy of Sciences, November 29.—The following
mathematical papers were read :—On a potential of the second
kind which solves the equation with partial differences of the
fourth order, expressing the interior Equilibrium of elastic,
amorphous, non-isotropic substances, by M. de Saint-Venant,
and a note on a certain class of differential equations of the
second order by M. Laguerre. A note found among the papers
of the late M. Le'on Foucault on the construction of the optical
plane was read. It gave a description of the method adopted
by M. Foucault to obtain a perfectly plane surface of glass,
and was supplemented by some remarks of M. A. Martin on his
experience in the employment of the same method.—M. P.
Gervais presented a note accompanying preparations relating to
the anatomy of the Great Anteater.—M. Melsens communicated
a memoir on the Passage of Projectiles through Resisting
Media, in which he treats of the conveyance of air by projectiles
moving through it, and the effect of the compression of the air
upon the course of the projectile.—M. Scoutetten presented a
note on the Preservation and Improvement of Wines by Means
of Electricity. He stated that by the application of a current of
electricity generated by a battery, and passed into the wine by
means of platinum electrodes, its quality is greatly improved.—
M. A. Gerardin remarked upon the unhealthy conditions produced
by the discharge of the water of starch manufactories into rivers,
and maintained that he had restored some rivers into a healthy con-
dition by causing the watercontainingalbuminousand otherorganic
refuse to be discharged upon well-drained arable land. A paper
on a very simple system of floodgates with a constant yield under
variable pressure, by M. Maurice Levy, was communicated, as
also a note by the same author on a peculiar system of skew-
bridges. MM. P. Desains and E. Branly communicated some
investigations on solar radiation. They have found that the
calorific action of the sun increases in intensity with the altitude
of the place of observation, but that the transmissibility of the
rays through water diminishes with the altitude. The transmissi-
bility of the solar heat through water and alum was found to be
greater in the morning than at noon, but this was not so strikingly
the case in October as in August. The authors stated that their
spectroscopic observations were in accordance with the preceding
results. A paper by M. J. Moutier on the expansion of gases
was presented, as also a note on molecular actions in chlorine,
bromine, and iodine, by M. C. A. Valson. In the latter the
author described his experiments to ascertain the amount of
molecular action in chlorine, bromine, and iodine, by determining
the height to which solutions of precisely equivalent quantities of
their salts would rise by capillary action. From his results he
inferred that if chlorine and iodine could easily be brought into a
liquid state, the capillary elevations of the three bodies above-
mentioned in a tube I millimetre in diameter would be respectively
6, 5'5, and 5 millimetres. The author suggested that the capillarity
of substances may be made available in chemical analysis, and
remarked that in its physical properties bromine stands nearly
midway between chlorine and iodine. MM, Odet and Vignon
presented an account of a new method of preparing anhydrous
nitric acid, founded upon that proposed by Gerhardt for obtaining
the anhydrous monobasic organic acids. They prepared chloride
of azotyle by the action of oxychloride of phosphorus upon nitrate
of lead or silver. The vapours of this chloride of azotyle were
directed upon dry crystals of nitrate of silver at a temperature of
140°—158° F ; the products of the reaction were conveyed into
a tube immersed in a mixture of ice and common salt, where they
furnished colourless prismatic needles presenting all the properties
described by H. Sainte-Claire Deville. The authors described
a simplified form of apparatus in which the acid may be pro-
duced without the preliminary preparation of chloride of azotyle,
and indicated the reactions which take place. M, j . Roussin
© 1869 Nature Publishing Group
177
communicated a paper on the preparation of hydrate of chloral
and on its characters when pure. His process consisted in sub-
mitting tiie crude crystalline mass obtained by passing dry
chlorine through absolute alcohol to strong pressure until it is
quite dry, then placing it in a retort with a little powdered chalk
and distilling it. M. Dubrunfaut presented a paper on inverted
sugar, in which he declared the results lately communicated to
the Academy by M. Maumene to be erroneous.—A memoir by
M. E. Van Beneden on the mode of formation of the ovum and
the embryonic development of the Sacculince was read ; to this
we shall probably advert elsewhere.—M. Marie-Davy presented
a third note on lunar radiation, containing the results of his
observations on this subject during the month of November.
The following papers were also communicated :—On a new
means of diagnosis and extraction of iron projectiles and leaden
projectiles with an. iron nucleus, by M. Milliot; on a new elec-
trical explorer for detecting foreign (especially metallic) sub-
stances in the tissues of the human body, by M. Trouve ; on
a system of aerial navigation (title only), by M. A. Vaillant; a
description of clinical experiments upon the therapeutic effects of
bromide of morphine and atropine, and bromide of digitaline (title
only), and an indication of a mode of curing stings by cauterisa-
tion (by the use of phenic and sulphuric acids), by M. Delagree ;
and a note on the supposed influence of subterranean marshes in
the development of intermittent fevers, by M, Colin.
BERLIN
Academy of Sciences, October 11.—Professor Magnus read
a paper on the alteration of the radiation of heat by roughening
of the radiating surface, in which he described a series of ex-
periments made by him to determine the cause of this alteration,
and stated that in his opinion the increased radiation of a rough-
ened surface depends essentially upon the refraction which the
heat undergoes in issuing from the surface of the radiating body.
—Professor W. Peters communicated a notice of a new species
of Lizard, Phyttodaclylus galapagensis, from the Galapagos
Islands. He remarked that only five species of reptiles were
previously known from these islands—one tortoise, three lizards,
and one snake. The last he identified with Dromiciis chamissonis,
which also occurs on the continent of America, and with this
Dr. Glinther's Herpetodryas oiserialis, from the Galapagos group,
may be synonymous. If it be distinct, the number of reptiles
from these islands will only be seven.—Prof. Pringsheim read an
elaborate memoir on the conjugation of swann-spores, the
morphological primary form of reproduction in the vegetable
kingdom, and a communication was presented by Dr. K.
Schultz-Sellack on the diathermancy of a series of substances
for dark heat. The author stated that he had found that
many more substances than is generally supposed allow a con-
siderable amount of the dark heat radiated by lampblack at
2120 F. to pass through them. He enumerates binary com-
pounds of chlorine, bromine, fluorine, and iodine, and a number
of sulphides, and shows their behaviour in this respect by means
of percentage tables.
German Chemical Society, November 12.—The following-
papers were read :—Otto on Mercuric Phenylide.—Kolbe :
Lecture Experiment to demonstrate the increase of weight of
burning substances.—Kempf on Carbonate of Phenyl.—Car-
stanjen on the Action of Oxychloride of Chromium on Hydro-
carbons.—Henry on Chlorosulphide of Phosphorus.—Radizewsky
on the Wax contained in the Straw of Cereals. —A. W. Hofmann
on the Action of Iodine on Thiobenzamide. —Friedel: Paris Corre-
spondence.—Richter: Petersburg Correspondence.
BONN
Natural History Society of Rhenish Prussia and
Westphalia,—The autumnal gathering of this society took
place on the n t h October, the day so widely observed as the
centenary of the birth of Humboldt; and the proceedings were
naturally inaugurated by a discourse in commemoration of the
great philosopher of whom the Germans are so justly proud.
The following are the more important communications sub-
mitted to the society :—The veteran Prof. NSggerath gave an
account of the earthquakes, four in number, which since Novem-
ber 1868 have visited the Rhine province, specifying the extent
of country subject to their influence, and glancing at the general
physical characters of earthquake phenomena. He was followed
by Prof. Troschel, who showed the importance of a study of the
geographical distribution of animals as indicating the configura-
tion of the earth's surface, and the distribution of land and water
 178 NA TURE
at the time of the commencement of the existingperiod of geological
history. The Professor's illustrations were chiefly derived from
his investigations of the distribution of sea-fish and laiid-snaiis.
Professor F . Zirkel, of Kiel, made some communications on the
mineralogical constitution of the basalt-lavas of Laacher See and
the Eifel. Professor von Rath described a new mineral from
Laacher See, which he proposes to call Amblystegite, in allusion
to the extreme obtuseness of some of its angles. I t is of a
reddish brown colour; hardness almost equal to that of quartz ;
specific gravity 3'454; melts with great difficulty, forming a
black glass insoluble in hydrochloric acid. In composition it is
allied to hypersthene, but is distinguished from that mineral by
the absence of the characteristic cleavage. Extracts from a
paper by Professor Fuhlrott on the caves of Grevenbrtick and
the Honnethal were then read; and Professor Schaffhausen
availed himself of the opportunity of insisting upon the desira-
bleness of a systematic exploration of the bone-yielding caves in
which Westphalia is so rich. We are glad to hear that steps
are being taken to raise funds for this purpose among the mem-
bers of the society. The most important finds in the Greven-
briick cave are coprolites of hyaena, and two human lower jaws
of primitive form.
[Dec. 9, 1869
DIARY
THURSDAY, D E C E M B E R 9.
ROVAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Spectroscopic Observations of the Sun, No. V.:
Mr T. Norman Lockyer, F . R . S . — Researches on Gaseous Spectra in
relation to t h e Physical Constitution of the Sun, Note I I I . : P r , Frank-
land, F . R . S . , and Mr. J . Norman Lockyer, F.R.S.—On the Successive
Action of Sodium and Iodide of E t h y l on Acetic E t h e r : Mr. J . A.
Wanklyn.
SOCIETY O F A N T I Q U A R I E S , at 8.30.—On a Faliscan Inscription: Padre
Garrucci, H o n . F. S.A.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY-, at 8.30.—On t h e Fin Whale recently stranded in
Langston Harbour : Prof. Flower, F . R . S . — O n the Fresh Water Fishes
of Eurmah : Surgeon Francis D a y .
M A T H E M A T I C A L SOCIETV, at 8.—Gauss' Theorems and Napier's Analogies :
Mr. Crofton.—On the Order of t h e Discriminants of a T e r n a r y Form :
Mr. S. Roberts.
LONDON I N S T I T U T I O N , at 7.30.—Architecture: Prof. R. Kerr.
FRIDAY, D E C E M B E R 10.
R O Y A L A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.
C L I N I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
Q U E K E T T MICROSCOPICAL C L U B , at 8.
SOCIETY O F A R T S , at 8.—Indian Conference. On a Gold Currencv for I n d i a :
Mr. A. Cassels.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER I J .
R O Y A L B O T A N I C SOCIETY, at 3.45.

VIENNA MONDAY, D E C E M B E R 13.

Imperial Academy of Sciences, November iS.—Professor
linger communicated a memoir on the anthracite deposits in
Carinthia. He stated that nineteen species of plants, chiefly
ferns, have been detected in the shales accompanying this
deposit. They agree with those of the coal-measures, and eight
of them occur also in the anthracite deposits of Styria, Switzer-
land, and the French Alps. Two undescribed Fern-stems were
particularly noticed by the author, who took the opportunity of
opposing the ordinary notion that the Stigmariiv are the roots of
SigiUtirite. Of the latter he regarded those species which have
not furrowed stems, as ferns.—Dr. C. Jelinek presented a pre-
liminary communication upon the hurricane-like storm which
visited Vienna on the 14th November. The greatest velocity of
the wind was 46'6 Paris feet per second, about noon ; the dimi-
nution of barometric pressure continued until 6 P.M., when the
mercury had fallen 7'17 lines, the velocity of the wind being 36-5
feet per second.—Director Tschermak communicated a memoir
011 a new salt from Hallstadt. This mineral, to which the author
gives the same of Astrakanite, occurs mixed with common salt,
anhydrite, and a mixture consisting chiefly of sodium sulphate in
the Christina gallery at Hallstadt. It forms a bluish layer, the
colour being due to •enclosures containing iron, and the crystals,
which are very small and occur in druses, being frequently
colourless. Its composition is expressed by the formula, MgS0 4 ,
Na 3 S0 4 , 4aq, so that it is the third natural magnesium-sodium
sulphate with which we are acquainted. M. Tschermak also
presented a paper by M. P. Hausenschild, giving an account of
his microscopic examination of the minerals called Predazzite
and Pencatite. By the examination of thin slices of the most
homogeneous looking specimens, the author found that two
minerals may be distinguished in them with certainty, namely,
calcite and brucite. — Dr. Samuel Stern presented a memoir
entitled " Contributions to the theory of ordinary (not musical)
sounds, as an objective character, with reference to the special
requirements of medical diagnosis."—Prof. E. Ltidwig presented
a paper by himself and Dr. J. Hein upon the synthesis of
hydroxylamine, which, they said, may be effected by the direct
addition of nascent hydrogen to pure nitrous oxide as follows :—
SOCIETY O F E N G I N E E R S , at 7.30.—Annual Meeting.
R O Y A L G E O G R A P H I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
M E D I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.
R O Y A L I N S T I T U T E O F B R I T I S H A R C H I T E C T S , at 8.
R O Y A L I N S T I T U T I O N , at 2.—Monthly Meeting
LONDON I N S T I T U T I O N , at 4 Elementary Physics : Prof. Guthrie.
SOCIETY O F A R T S , at 8.—The Spectroscope and its Applications: Mr. J,
Norman Lockyer, F . R . S .
TUESDAY, D E C E S I B E R 14.
I N S T I T U T I O N O F C I V I L E N G I N E E R S , at 8.
R O Y A L M E D I C A L A N D C H I R U R G I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
P H O T O G R A P H I C S O C I E T Y , at 8.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.—Race Affinities of the People of Mada-
gascar: Mr. C Staniland Wake, F . A . S . L .
WEDNESDAY, D E C E M B E R 15.
SOCIETY OF A R T S , at 8.—On India-rubber—its History, Commerce, and
Supply : Mr. J . Collins.
THURSDAY, D E C E M B E R 16.
R O Y A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
SOCIETY O F A N T I Q U A R I E S , at 8.30.
L I N N E A N S O C I E T Y , at 8.
C H E M I C A L SOCIETY, at 8.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 4.
N U M I S M A T I C S O C I E T Y , a t 7.
PHILOSOPHICAL C L U B , at 6.
L O N D O N I N S T I T U T I O N , at 7.30.
E D I N B U R G H GEOLOGICAL S O C I E T Y , at 8
BOOKS RECEIVED
E N G L I S H . — T h e Monthly Microscopical Journal, December 1S69 (Robert
Hardwicke).—Chemistry for Schools: C. Haughton Gill ( J a m e s Walton).—
Burton-on-Trent—its History, its Waters, and its Breweries : W. Motvneauj.-,
F . C S . (Trubiier).—Outlines of Chemistry; or, Brief Notes of Chemical
Facts : D r . Odling (Longmans).—Earth and Sea : Louis Figuier (Nelson
and Sons).—The Second Table of the Commandments : Dr. Rowland (Long-
m a n s ) — H e a d s and T a i l s : A d a m White (Nisbet).—Romance of Natural
History, 2 vols.: P. H . Gosse (Nisbet).—Facts and D a t e s : Rev. A. Mackay
(Blackwood).—Physical Ethics : A. Barratt (Williams and Norgate).—
Womankind i n W e s t e r n Europe : J . Wright (Groombridge).
F O R E I G N . — L e s Pierres Precieuses: J . Rambosson.—Histoire des Meteors :
J. Rambosson.—Lecons sur la R e s p i r a t i o n : P . Bert.—Die Blausaure : W.
Preyer.—Landwirthschaftliche Zoologie : D r . Giebcl. (Through Williams
and Norgate.)

NO + H 3 = NffO.J
The process consists in passing nitrous oxide through a mixture CONTENTS
of tin and hydrochloric acid, freeing the fluid from tin by sul- r AGE
SCIENCE AND T H E PUBLIC H E A L T H . B y Prof. W. H . CORFIEI.D . . '55
phuretted hydrogen, evaporating the filtrate from the sulphuret SCIENCE E D U C A T I O N I N G E R M A N Y . I . ' ' T H E G E R M A N TJNIVEKSII Y
of tin to dryness, washing the residue in cold and dissolving it in S Y S T E M . By Prof. H . E . R O S C O E , F . R . S •57
150
hot alcohol, separating the ammonium chloride with platinum A P O I N T I N MUSCULAR PHYSICS
16.J
THE PROJECTED CHANNEL RAILWAYS .
chloride, and precipitating the pure hydrochlorate of hydroxyla- D R N A ' S M I N E R A L O G Y . B y Prof. N . S T O R Y M A S K E L Y N E
161
mine by anhydrous ether. The analysis and measurement of the B E L L ' S N E W T R A C K S IN N O R T H A M E R I C A . {With Illustrations.} .
crystals thus obtained proved their identity with Lossen's salt.— OUR BOOK S H E L F 165
T H E D E E P - S E A D R E D G I N G E X P E D I T I O N IN H . M . S . " P O R C U P I N E . "
The following memoirs were presented, but only their titles are N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y (continued). B y J . GwyN J E F F R E Y S , F . R . S . 166
given": By Prof. Hyrtl, " O n a precorneal vascular net in the SCHOLARSHIPS A N D E X H I B I T I O N S F O R N A T U R A L S C I E N C E IN C A M -
human eye," and " O n an insular intercalated bone in the BRIDGE 168
parietal bone ; " and by Prof. B. Lapschin, of Odessa, " On the LETTERS TO T H E EDITOR :—
iSy
Mental Progress of Animals
specific gravity of the water of the Black Sea," and " O n the T h e Suez C a n a l . — E D W . R A E 169
conductibility of cork for heat, and its application to the con- The Poles of Mars 171)
struction of a barometer." Prof. Julius Wiesner also presented Lectures to Ladies 170
a memoir on the origin and increase of Bactria, the results of T h e American Eclipse.—W. CROOKES, F . R . S 170
NOTES >7"
which had been communicated to the Academy on the 29th April ASTRONOMY- 17a
last GEOLOGY
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. DIARY-, BOOKS RECEIVED .

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 178 NA TURE
at the time of the commencement of the existingperiod of geological
history. The Professor's illustrations were chiefly derived from
his investigations of the distribution of sea-fish and laiid-snaiis.
Professor F . Zirkel, of Kiel, made some communications on the
mineralogical constitution of the basalt-lavas of Laacher See and
the Eifel. Professor von Rath described a new mineral from
Laacher See, which he proposes to call Amblystegite, in allusion
to the extreme obtuseness of some of its angles. I t is of a
reddish brown colour; hardness almost equal to that of quartz ;
specific gravity 3'454; melts with great difficulty, forming a
black glass insoluble in hydrochloric acid. In composition it is
allied to hypersthene, but is distinguished from that mineral by
the absence of the characteristic cleavage. Extracts from a
paper by Professor Fuhlrott on the caves of Grevenbrtick and
the Honnethal were then read; and Professor Schaffhausen
availed himself of the opportunity of insisting upon the desira-
bleness of a systematic exploration of the bone-yielding caves in
which Westphalia is so rich. We are glad to hear that steps
are being taken to raise funds for this purpose among the mem-
bers of the society. The most important finds in the Greven-
briick cave are coprolites of hyaena, and two human lower jaws
of primitive form.
[Dec. 9, 1869
DIARY
THURSDAY, D E C E M B E R 9.
ROVAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Spectroscopic Observations of the Sun, No. V.:
Mr T. Norman Lockyer, F . R . S . — Researches on Gaseous Spectra in
relation to t h e Physical Constitution of the Sun, Note I I I . : P r , Frank-
land, F . R . S . , and Mr. J . Norman Lockyer, F.R.S.—On the Successive
Action of Sodium and Iodide of E t h y l on Acetic E t h e r : Mr. J . A.
Wanklyn.
SOCIETY O F A N T I Q U A R I E S , at 8.30.—On a Faliscan Inscription: Padre
Garrucci, H o n . F. S.A.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY-, at 8.30.—On t h e Fin Whale recently stranded in
Langston Harbour : Prof. Flower, F . R . S . — O n the Fresh Water Fishes
of Eurmah : Surgeon Francis D a y .
M A T H E M A T I C A L SOCIETV, at 8.—Gauss' Theorems and Napier's Analogies :
Mr. Crofton.—On the Order of t h e Discriminants of a T e r n a r y Form :
Mr. S. Roberts.
LONDON I N S T I T U T I O N , at 7.30.—Architecture: Prof. R. Kerr.
FRIDAY, D E C E M B E R 10.
R O Y A L A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.
C L I N I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
Q U E K E T T MICROSCOPICAL C L U B , at 8.
SOCIETY O F A R T S , at 8.—Indian Conference. On a Gold Currencv for I n d i a :
Mr. A. Cassels.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER I J .
R O Y A L B O T A N I C SOCIETY, at 3.45.

VIENNA MONDAY, D E C E M B E R 13.

Imperial Academy of Sciences, November iS.—Professor
linger communicated a memoir on the anthracite deposits in
Carinthia. He stated that nineteen species of plants, chiefly
ferns, have been detected in the shales accompanying this
deposit. They agree with those of the coal-measures, and eight
of them occur also in the anthracite deposits of Styria, Switzer-
land, and the French Alps. Two undescribed Fern-stems were
particularly noticed by the author, who took the opportunity of
opposing the ordinary notion that the Stigmariiv are the roots of
SigiUtirite. Of the latter he regarded those species which have
not furrowed stems, as ferns.—Dr. C. Jelinek presented a pre-
liminary communication upon the hurricane-like storm which
visited Vienna on the 14th November. The greatest velocity of
the wind was 46'6 Paris feet per second, about noon ; the dimi-
nution of barometric pressure continued until 6 P.M., when the
mercury had fallen 7'17 lines, the velocity of the wind being 36-5
feet per second.—Director Tschermak communicated a memoir
011 a new salt from Hallstadt. This mineral, to which the author
gives the same of Astrakanite, occurs mixed with common salt,
anhydrite, and a mixture consisting chiefly of sodium sulphate in
the Christina gallery at Hallstadt. It forms a bluish layer, the
colour being due to •enclosures containing iron, and the crystals,
which are very small and occur in druses, being frequently
colourless. Its composition is expressed by the formula, MgS0 4 ,
Na 3 S0 4 , 4aq, so that it is the third natural magnesium-sodium
sulphate with which we are acquainted. M. Tschermak also
presented a paper by M. P. Hausenschild, giving an account of
his microscopic examination of the minerals called Predazzite
and Pencatite. By the examination of thin slices of the most
homogeneous looking specimens, the author found that two
minerals may be distinguished in them with certainty, namely,
calcite and brucite. — Dr. Samuel Stern presented a memoir
entitled " Contributions to the theory of ordinary (not musical)
sounds, as an objective character, with reference to the special
requirements of medical diagnosis."—Prof. E. Ltidwig presented
a paper by himself and Dr. J. Hein upon the synthesis of
hydroxylamine, which, they said, may be effected by the direct
addition of nascent hydrogen to pure nitrous oxide as follows :—
SOCIETY O F E N G I N E E R S , at 7.30.—Annual Meeting.
R O Y A L G E O G R A P H I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
M E D I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.
R O Y A L I N S T I T U T E O F B R I T I S H A R C H I T E C T S , at 8.
R O Y A L I N S T I T U T I O N , at 2.—Monthly Meeting
LONDON I N S T I T U T I O N , at 4 Elementary Physics : Prof. Guthrie.
SOCIETY O F A R T S , at 8.—The Spectroscope and its Applications: Mr. J,
Norman Lockyer, F . R . S .
TUESDAY, D E C E S I B E R 14.
I N S T I T U T I O N O F C I V I L E N G I N E E R S , at 8.
R O Y A L M E D I C A L A N D C H I R U R G I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
P H O T O G R A P H I C S O C I E T Y , at 8.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.—Race Affinities of the People of Mada-
gascar: Mr. C Staniland Wake, F . A . S . L .
WEDNESDAY, D E C E M B E R 15.
SOCIETY OF A R T S , at 8.—On India-rubber—its History, Commerce, and
Supply : Mr. J . Collins.
THURSDAY, D E C E M B E R 16.
R O Y A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
SOCIETY O F A N T I Q U A R I E S , at 8.30.
L I N N E A N S O C I E T Y , at 8.
C H E M I C A L SOCIETY, at 8.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 4.
N U M I S M A T I C S O C I E T Y , a t 7.
PHILOSOPHICAL C L U B , at 6.
L O N D O N I N S T I T U T I O N , at 7.30.
E D I N B U R G H GEOLOGICAL S O C I E T Y , at 8
BOOKS RECEIVED
E N G L I S H . — T h e Monthly Microscopical Journal, December 1S69 (Robert
Hardwicke).—Chemistry for Schools: C. Haughton Gill ( J a m e s Walton).—
Burton-on-Trent—its History, its Waters, and its Breweries : W. Motvneauj.-,
F . C S . (Trubiier).—Outlines of Chemistry; or, Brief Notes of Chemical
Facts : D r . Odling (Longmans).—Earth and Sea : Louis Figuier (Nelson
and Sons).—The Second Table of the Commandments : Dr. Rowland (Long-
m a n s ) — H e a d s and T a i l s : A d a m White (Nisbet).—Romance of Natural
History, 2 vols.: P. H . Gosse (Nisbet).—Facts and D a t e s : Rev. A. Mackay
(Blackwood).—Physical Ethics : A. Barratt (Williams and Norgate).—
Womankind i n W e s t e r n Europe : J . Wright (Groombridge).
F O R E I G N . — L e s Pierres Precieuses: J . Rambosson.—Histoire des Meteors :
J. Rambosson.—Lecons sur la R e s p i r a t i o n : P . Bert.—Die Blausaure : W.
Preyer.—Landwirthschaftliche Zoologie : D r . Giebcl. (Through Williams
and Norgate.)

NO + H 3 = NffO.J
The process consists in passing nitrous oxide through a mixture CONTENTS
of tin and hydrochloric acid, freeing the fluid from tin by sul- r AGE
SCIENCE AND T H E PUBLIC H E A L T H . B y Prof. W. H . CORFIEI.D . . '55
phuretted hydrogen, evaporating the filtrate from the sulphuret SCIENCE E D U C A T I O N I N G E R M A N Y . I . ' ' T H E G E R M A N TJNIVEKSII Y
of tin to dryness, washing the residue in cold and dissolving it in S Y S T E M . By Prof. H . E . R O S C O E , F . R . S •57
150
hot alcohol, separating the ammonium chloride with platinum A P O I N T I N MUSCULAR PHYSICS
16.J
THE PROJECTED CHANNEL RAILWAYS .
chloride, and precipitating the pure hydrochlorate of hydroxyla- D R N A ' S M I N E R A L O G Y . B y Prof. N . S T O R Y M A S K E L Y N E
161
mine by anhydrous ether. The analysis and measurement of the B E L L ' S N E W T R A C K S IN N O R T H A M E R I C A . {With Illustrations.} .
crystals thus obtained proved their identity with Lossen's salt.— OUR BOOK S H E L F 165
T H E D E E P - S E A D R E D G I N G E X P E D I T I O N IN H . M . S . " P O R C U P I N E . "
The following memoirs were presented, but only their titles are N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y (continued). B y J . GwyN J E F F R E Y S , F . R . S . 166
given": By Prof. Hyrtl, " O n a precorneal vascular net in the SCHOLARSHIPS A N D E X H I B I T I O N S F O R N A T U R A L S C I E N C E IN C A M -
human eye," and " O n an insular intercalated bone in the BRIDGE 168
parietal bone ; " and by Prof. B. Lapschin, of Odessa, " On the LETTERS TO T H E EDITOR :—
iSy
Mental Progress of Animals
specific gravity of the water of the Black Sea," and " O n the T h e Suez C a n a l . — E D W . R A E 169
conductibility of cork for heat, and its application to the con- The Poles of Mars 171)
struction of a barometer." Prof. Julius Wiesner also presented Lectures to Ladies 170
a memoir on the origin and increase of Bactria, the results of T h e American Eclipse.—W. CROOKES, F . R . S 170
NOTES >7"
which had been communicated to the Academy on the 29th April ASTRONOMY- 17a
last GEOLOGY
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. DIARY-, BOOKS RECEIVED .

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group

 178 NA TURE
at the time of the commencement of the existingperiod of geological
history. The Professor's illustrations were chiefly derived from
his investigations of the distribution of sea-fish and laiid-snaiis.
Professor F . Zirkel, of Kiel, made some communications on the
mineralogical constitution of the basalt-lavas of Laacher See and
the Eifel. Professor von Rath described a new mineral from
Laacher See, which he proposes to call Amblystegite, in allusion
to the extreme obtuseness of some of its angles. I t is of a
reddish brown colour; hardness almost equal to that of quartz ;
specific gravity 3'454; melts with great difficulty, forming a
black glass insoluble in hydrochloric acid. In composition it is
allied to hypersthene, but is distinguished from that mineral by
the absence of the characteristic cleavage. Extracts from a
paper by Professor Fuhlrott on the caves of Grevenbrtick and
the Honnethal were then read; and Professor Schaffhausen
availed himself of the opportunity of insisting upon the desira-
bleness of a systematic exploration of the bone-yielding caves in
which Westphalia is so rich. We are glad to hear that steps
are being taken to raise funds for this purpose among the mem-
bers of the society. The most important finds in the Greven-
briick cave are coprolites of hyaena, and two human lower jaws
of primitive form.
[Dec. 9, 1869
DIARY
THURSDAY, D E C E M B E R 9.
ROVAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Spectroscopic Observations of the Sun, No. V.:
Mr T. Norman Lockyer, F . R . S . — Researches on Gaseous Spectra in
relation to t h e Physical Constitution of the Sun, Note I I I . : P r , Frank-
land, F . R . S . , and Mr. J . Norman Lockyer, F.R.S.—On the Successive
Action of Sodium and Iodide of E t h y l on Acetic E t h e r : Mr. J . A.
Wanklyn.
SOCIETY O F A N T I Q U A R I E S , at 8.30.—On a Faliscan Inscription: Padre
Garrucci, H o n . F. S.A.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY-, at 8.30.—On t h e Fin Whale recently stranded in
Langston Harbour : Prof. Flower, F . R . S . — O n the Fresh Water Fishes
of Eurmah : Surgeon Francis D a y .
M A T H E M A T I C A L SOCIETV, at 8.—Gauss' Theorems and Napier's Analogies :
Mr. Crofton.—On the Order of t h e Discriminants of a T e r n a r y Form :
Mr. S. Roberts.
LONDON I N S T I T U T I O N , at 7.30.—Architecture: Prof. R. Kerr.
FRIDAY, D E C E M B E R 10.
R O Y A L A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.
C L I N I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
Q U E K E T T MICROSCOPICAL C L U B , at 8.
SOCIETY O F A R T S , at 8.—Indian Conference. On a Gold Currencv for I n d i a :
Mr. A. Cassels.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER I J .
R O Y A L B O T A N I C SOCIETY, at 3.45.

VIENNA MONDAY, D E C E M B E R 13.

Imperial Academy of Sciences, November iS.—Professor
linger communicated a memoir on the anthracite deposits in
Carinthia. He stated that nineteen species of plants, chiefly
ferns, have been detected in the shales accompanying this
deposit. They agree with those of the coal-measures, and eight
of them occur also in the anthracite deposits of Styria, Switzer-
land, and the French Alps. Two undescribed Fern-stems were
particularly noticed by the author, who took the opportunity of
opposing the ordinary notion that the Stigmariiv are the roots of
SigiUtirite. Of the latter he regarded those species which have
not furrowed stems, as ferns.—Dr. C. Jelinek presented a pre-
liminary communication upon the hurricane-like storm which
visited Vienna on the 14th November. The greatest velocity of
the wind was 46'6 Paris feet per second, about noon ; the dimi-
nution of barometric pressure continued until 6 P.M., when the
mercury had fallen 7'17 lines, the velocity of the wind being 36-5
feet per second.—Director Tschermak communicated a memoir
011 a new salt from Hallstadt. This mineral, to which the author
gives the same of Astrakanite, occurs mixed with common salt,
anhydrite, and a mixture consisting chiefly of sodium sulphate in
the Christina gallery at Hallstadt. It forms a bluish layer, the
colour being due to •enclosures containing iron, and the crystals,
which are very small and occur in druses, being frequently
colourless. Its composition is expressed by the formula, MgS0 4 ,
Na 3 S0 4 , 4aq, so that it is the third natural magnesium-sodium
sulphate with which we are acquainted. M. Tschermak also
presented a paper by M. P. Hausenschild, giving an account of
his microscopic examination of the minerals called Predazzite
and Pencatite. By the examination of thin slices of the most
homogeneous looking specimens, the author found that two
minerals may be distinguished in them with certainty, namely,
calcite and brucite. — Dr. Samuel Stern presented a memoir
entitled " Contributions to the theory of ordinary (not musical)
sounds, as an objective character, with reference to the special
requirements of medical diagnosis."—Prof. E. Ltidwig presented
a paper by himself and Dr. J. Hein upon the synthesis of
hydroxylamine, which, they said, may be effected by the direct
addition of nascent hydrogen to pure nitrous oxide as follows :—
SOCIETY O F E N G I N E E R S , at 7.30.—Annual Meeting.
R O Y A L G E O G R A P H I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
M E D I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.
R O Y A L I N S T I T U T E O F B R I T I S H A R C H I T E C T S , at 8.
R O Y A L I N S T I T U T I O N , at 2.—Monthly Meeting
LONDON I N S T I T U T I O N , at 4 Elementary Physics : Prof. Guthrie.
SOCIETY O F A R T S , at 8.—The Spectroscope and its Applications: Mr. J,
Norman Lockyer, F . R . S .
TUESDAY, D E C E S I B E R 14.
I N S T I T U T I O N O F C I V I L E N G I N E E R S , at 8.
R O Y A L M E D I C A L A N D C H I R U R G I C A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
P H O T O G R A P H I C S O C I E T Y , at 8.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.—Race Affinities of the People of Mada-
gascar: Mr. C Staniland Wake, F . A . S . L .
WEDNESDAY, D E C E M B E R 15.
SOCIETY OF A R T S , at 8.—On India-rubber—its History, Commerce, and
Supply : Mr. J . Collins.
THURSDAY, D E C E M B E R 16.
R O Y A L S O C I E T Y , at 8.30.
SOCIETY O F A N T I Q U A R I E S , at 8.30.
L I N N E A N S O C I E T Y , at 8.
C H E M I C A L SOCIETY, at 8.
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 4.
N U M I S M A T I C S O C I E T Y , a t 7.
PHILOSOPHICAL C L U B , at 6.
L O N D O N I N S T I T U T I O N , at 7.30.
E D I N B U R G H GEOLOGICAL S O C I E T Y , at 8
BOOKS RECEIVED
E N G L I S H . — T h e Monthly Microscopical Journal, December 1S69 (Robert
Hardwicke).—Chemistry for Schools: C. Haughton Gill ( J a m e s Walton).—
Burton-on-Trent—its History, its Waters, and its Breweries : W. Motvneauj.-,
F . C S . (Trubiier).—Outlines of Chemistry; or, Brief Notes of Chemical
Facts : D r . Odling (Longmans).—Earth and Sea : Louis Figuier (Nelson
and Sons).—The Second Table of the Commandments : Dr. Rowland (Long-
m a n s ) — H e a d s and T a i l s : A d a m White (Nisbet).—Romance of Natural
History, 2 vols.: P. H . Gosse (Nisbet).—Facts and D a t e s : Rev. A. Mackay
(Blackwood).—Physical Ethics : A. Barratt (Williams and Norgate).—
Womankind i n W e s t e r n Europe : J . Wright (Groombridge).
F O R E I G N . — L e s Pierres Precieuses: J . Rambosson.—Histoire des Meteors :
J. Rambosson.—Lecons sur la R e s p i r a t i o n : P . Bert.—Die Blausaure : W.
Preyer.—Landwirthschaftliche Zoologie : D r . Giebcl. (Through Williams
and Norgate.)

NO + H 3 = NffO.J
The process consists in passing nitrous oxide through a mixture CONTENTS
of tin and hydrochloric acid, freeing the fluid from tin by sul- r AGE
SCIENCE AND T H E PUBLIC H E A L T H . B y Prof. W. H . CORFIEI.D . . '55
phuretted hydrogen, evaporating the filtrate from the sulphuret SCIENCE E D U C A T I O N I N G E R M A N Y . I . ' ' T H E G E R M A N TJNIVEKSII Y
of tin to dryness, washing the residue in cold and dissolving it in S Y S T E M . By Prof. H . E . R O S C O E , F . R . S •57
150
hot alcohol, separating the ammonium chloride with platinum A P O I N T I N MUSCULAR PHYSICS
16.J
THE PROJECTED CHANNEL RAILWAYS .
chloride, and precipitating the pure hydrochlorate of hydroxyla- D R N A ' S M I N E R A L O G Y . B y Prof. N . S T O R Y M A S K E L Y N E
161
mine by anhydrous ether. The analysis and measurement of the B E L L ' S N E W T R A C K S IN N O R T H A M E R I C A . {With Illustrations.} .
crystals thus obtained proved their identity with Lossen's salt.— OUR BOOK S H E L F 165
T H E D E E P - S E A D R E D G I N G E X P E D I T I O N IN H . M . S . " P O R C U P I N E . "
The following memoirs were presented, but only their titles are N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y (continued). B y J . GwyN J E F F R E Y S , F . R . S . 166
given": By Prof. Hyrtl, " O n a precorneal vascular net in the SCHOLARSHIPS A N D E X H I B I T I O N S F O R N A T U R A L S C I E N C E IN C A M -
human eye," and " O n an insular intercalated bone in the BRIDGE 168
parietal bone ; " and by Prof. B. Lapschin, of Odessa, " On the LETTERS TO T H E EDITOR :—
iSy
Mental Progress of Animals
specific gravity of the water of the Black Sea," and " O n the T h e Suez C a n a l . — E D W . R A E 169
conductibility of cork for heat, and its application to the con- The Poles of Mars 171)
struction of a barometer." Prof. Julius Wiesner also presented Lectures to Ladies 170
a memoir on the origin and increase of Bactria, the results of T h e American Eclipse.—W. CROOKES, F . R . S 170
NOTES >7"
which had been communicated to the Academy on the 29th April ASTRONOMY- 17a
last GEOLOGY
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. DIARY-, BOOKS RECEIVED .

© 1869 Nature Publishing Group